


Nowhere I Wish To Be

by Tattered_Petals



Category: DC - Fandom, DCU, DCU - Comicverse, Justice League, Justice League & Justice League Unlimited (Cartoons)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-05-13
Updated: 2013-08-23
Packaged: 2017-12-11 19:04:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 22,781
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/802126
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tattered_Petals/pseuds/Tattered_Petals
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bruce Wayne was kicked out of yet another boarding school and is forced to attend public school. He meets some interesting people and learns that you can't always do everything alone. Justice League Highschool AU</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Buddy System

“Alfred,” Bruce groaned as he looked at his lunch box in distain. “Why do I have to switch schools?”

“Because, sir,” Alfred was trying to drag the comb through Bruce’s knotted hair that the boy insisted on keeping much too long for Alfred’s refined standards. “Your old school had you  _expelled.”_ Bruce winced. “You’re lucky this school will even take you.”

Bruce frowned at that. What happened wasn’t even his fault. “But Alfred, this is a  _public_ school.” He stressed and Alfred looked unfazed he continued trying to comb the hair into some form of order. I am well aware of what school I am sending you to, sir. Now is no time to get arrogant because of your standing. To be quite frank, I think a public school could be a useful experience for you more than the experience of sending you to yet another boarding school.” Alfred’s voice was crisp and made the sixteen year old feel like a young child again. He even lowered his head a little.

“I didn’t mean it like that,” He said quietly. “I…I didn’t even have anything in common with anyone at the other schools I’ve gone to.” Bruce’s voice was unreadable, but to Alfred’s trained ear he could detect hints of embarrassment, nerves and a little bit of shame. “What on earth am I going to have in common with anyone at this school? I’m just going to be that rich kid who everyone will only talk to if they need a new shirt.” Bruce remembered a prior incident and added, “Or a car.” He didn’t like remembering that time. 

Alfred set down the comb and settled for placing both of his hands on Bruce’s shoulders. Bruce looked up at him, albeit cautiously. “Master Bruce,” Alfred began. “You can only be yourself. You cannot help your inheritance, your bloodline or your status.” Alfred had a way of sounding matter-of-fact, yet gentle at the same time. “What you can help is the way you act and the way you treat others. If you are yourself and people do not take to you and only wish for your wealth, or ostracize you because of it, then that is their loss and you should not fret, nor suffer for their ignorance.” Bruce nodded slowly. “But my dear boy, you have a tendency to try to push away those who offer you kindness. That will not get your anywhere, at least nowhere you want to be.” Alfred looked at him with meaning. “And nowhere I wish for you to be,” he finished. 

Bruce looked away and just nodded. Alfred eventually removed his hands from the boy's shoulders and eyed his hair. Bruce underwent another five minutes of torture at the hands of his butler with a comb. 

                                                        ******************************************  


 

Bruce didn’t want to leave the car. “Master Bruce,” Alfred repeated himself for what had to be the fifth time. “We have been parked outside the school for quite a while.  If you are trying to take the attention away from yourself, might I suggest coming up with a much more useful tactic?” 

Bruce winced and peered through the tinted windows. “It’s the middle of the year, Alfred,” he said suddenly. “Maybe we should wait until next year-.”

“Master Bruce, you have been out of school and have been sulking around home for over a month now. You are fully capable of going to school and I’m sure you will be just fine.” Alfred stated.  Bruce closed his eyes and took deep breaths, in through his nose and out through his mouth.

“I’m ready,” He said slowly. Alfred nodded curtly from the front seat and went to open his own door. “Maybe I should get out myself, Alfred.” He’s not nervous, he really isn’t… “Just…y’know…maybe it’d be…y’know.” 

“I know,” Alfred assured him. “Have a good day, Master Bruce.” Bruce detected Alfred's sincerity, and allowed himself to exhale heavily. He then opened his door, after giving one last fleeting look of “save me” to Alfred. Luckily, Bruce thought, the whole situation with his former school and his switch to this one was hidden from paparazzi, so no one really probably knew he was even showing up. Though he knew they would...soon. 

Bruce realized that, lucky enough, he was still early, despite hiding in the car for a prolonged period of time. Alfred always insisted on being prompt, and more accurately, showing up at places very early. Alfred explained that his early arrival would make the perfect first impression, since Bruce had to drop by the Principal’s office to meet up with his “buddy”-  the person the school assigns to you to show you around. Bruce begged Alfred to let him just ditch his “buddy,” but when Alfred tried to get him out of it, the school insisted it was school rules and unavoidable. Bruce told Alfred they might as well hang him up and torture him, to which Alfred responded by inquiring of him if he’d considered enrolling in the schools’ drama program. 

Bruce eventually arrived at the front desk.  He had passed a few people in the hall who had given him the “who are you” look…and he also got "checked out" by a few girls. He was actually accustomed to the last part. The first part…not so much. Usually, if he saw people they knew exactly who he was. It was almost…nice…not to have them know.  It was somewhat refreshing to be "the new guy"...the stranger.

“Hello,” he said politely. The woman looking at the desk glanced up at him and smiled politely. She was an older woman with gray hair and a kind face, so he found it impossible to be impolite. “I’m Bruce Wayne,” he said quietly.  What followed was an almost unnatural quiet, and then, the woman nodded her head at him.  She looked understanding as to why his voice had sunk into a whisper. Despite that, all his best efforts will be put down soon, either way. “I was told to meet at the office early to meet my…um…” He tried not to groan, he really did. “Buddy.” 

The woman tried to fight back a smile as she nodded at Bruce. “I see, well, dear, sadly your buddy is a tad bit late. He really is a lovely boy. Fastest runner the school has ever seen, but he’s terrible at being punctual.” This time, she smiled, kindly, at him.

“Ironic,” Bruce offered a small smile back.  It was more than he usually gave people. “You know, if he’s late than I can just save him the trouble and find my classes by myself,” he offered, praying she’d agree. But she leveled him with a look of “I know what you’re up to.”

“I’m sure he’ll be here soon, dear,” she said politely, and Bruce’s posture began to sag just a little. “Why don’t you take a seat?” she offered. 

Bruce nodded and sat down in one of the chairs to the right the side of the office. He sat there with just himself, his thoughts and the clicks of a keyboard before someone came running into the office, nearly smashing through the door.  He skidded to a halt, stopping himself by setting his hands against the desk. “I’m soso sorry,” His words were all jumbled together. 

“IwokeuplateandIhadtoeatandshowerandthehotwatertookforevertocomeon-.” He was cut off, thankfully, by the woman at the desk.

“It’s quite all right, dear,” The woman comforted him. “Your buddy is right over there, safe and sound.” Bruce stood up slowly to look at a boy with bright red hair, and green eyes, who was now smiling brightly at him. He also had a smudge of peanut butter on the side of his mouth. “Wally West, meet Bruce Wayne!” 

Wally smiled even brighter at him and extended his hand. “Hey,  _buddy_ ,” Wally greeted, good naturedly. “How’re ya?” 

Oh God, Bruce thought. He seemed talkative. He felt that someone out there must really hate him. “Good,” he replied, with a bit of caution. He then slowly accepted the hand shake. “How’re you?” 

If Wally was put off by Bruce's lack of friendliness, it only showed for a split second before a big grin spread across his face again, as he and Bruce pulled their hands away. “I’m fine! Wild morning, though, I tell ya!” 

The woman at the desk cleared her throat and the two young men looked at her, and she nodded at them. “Now, Bruce, I assume you have your schedule?” she inquired.  Bruce dug through his backpack and pulled it out. He nodded, and in what seemed like the blink of an eye, Wally was holding it and looking through it. Bruce frowned. He was fast. “Good! Now, Wally, you have everything we provided for you, correct?” Wally’s eyes nearly popped out of their sockets as he set Bruce’s schedule down and tore through his backpack. “I brought extra copies.” she told him, and he straightened up and smiled. They both thanked her and left the office.

“What other stuff?” Bruce inquired as he tried to grab his schedule back from Wally.

Wally held his hand away from Bruce and Bruce bit back a growl. “I’m not done looking yet! Also…just…y’know…thebuddykit.”

“The buddy kit?” Bruce raised both of his eyebrows. “You’re joking.” 

Wally chuckled nervously and tucked the schedule under his arm while he took out the buddy kit. They were still standing outside the office - the passing students just raised their eyebrows. The bell hadn’t rung yet. 

“There’s…um…nametags.” Wally pulled out a nametag that said “Hi! My name is Bruce!”. “Please tell me I don’t have to wear that.” Bruce looked at in horror. “Or do they have a sign that says “Kick me” to go with it?” 

Wally let out a surprised laugh at the last part, and Bruce blinked in surprise. It wasn’t often that someone laughed at his jokes.  Mainly because he never told any. “Let’s just throw it out,” Wally suggested as he crumbled the name tag up and tossed it towards the closest trash can…and missed.  He winced, but then just shrugged and went through the rest of the kit. “This is a little sheet we each fill out,” he informed Bruce, who was looking at him like he had three heads. “To get to know each other better.” Wally squirmed a bit under Bruce’s intense gaze. “Look, I know this is lame, okay?”

“Then why are you doing it?” Bruce questioned.

Wally shrugged. “They roped me and some of my friends into signing up for it. No one else would.” He looked a bit sheepish, and the shrugged again. 

“So what else is in that kit?” Bruce really didn’t want to know. He really didn’t. 

“A get to know me game.” Wally responded, and Bruce almost laughed.

“Right, of course,” He shook his head and Wally actually looked a bit nervous. Bruce had always been told he comes off a bit…strong…if not rude and terrifying. “I…uh…guess I’ll fill out the sheet when I do my home-work.” Wally’s face brightened up a bit. It better, he thought. It was the stupidest thing he had ever been roped into doing. 

“GREAT!” Wally said so loudly that it drew people to stare.  Bruce wanted to go hide - in a very dark corner. To make it worse, Wally threw his arm around him and pulled his schedule back out. “Now Bruce, my buddy, you are a lucky man.” Bruce’s posture was stiff, but Wally didn’t seem to be receiving the message. “You've got quite a few classes with me.” Bruce weeped internally. “As well as lunch! Which means you get to sit with me and my friends. A very exclusive invitation provided by yours truly! You’ll love them! They’re great! But beware, because, while you have gym with yours truly, you also have it with the fearsome trio.” Bruce raised an eyebrow.

“The…fearsome trio?” Bruce was starting to believe he had entered and insane alternate reality. 

“Named them myself,” Wally smirked, and seemed to take in Bruce’s tense posture at long last. He awkwardly removed his arm, to Bruce’s relief, before he continued talking; “Just Luthor and two of his goonies.” 

Bruce blinked in surprise. “Lex Luthor?” he inquired.  Wally nodded. “Didn’t know he went to school here.” Wally’s eyes went very wide and he seemed to pale.

“Are…you two…friends?” He asked the question as if being friends with Lex Luthor was the most terrifying and atrocious thing you could involve yourself in as a human being.

“Not at all.” Bruce actually snorted. He couldn’t stand Luthor from the few times he’d met him. 

“Good.” Wally looked relieved, and Bruce raised an eyebrow. More kids started filing into school. “I should probably show you to your locker, my buddy.” Bruce really hoped Wally wouldn’t keep calling him that. 

                                *********************************************************************  


 

As it turned out, Bruce even sat next to Wally in homeroom. When he had been introduced to the homeroom class, a few people gasped and gaped at him, Bruce found to be ver uncomfortable. He even saw one person mouth at Wally “No way” to which Wally mouthed back “Way."

By the time lunch rolled around, Bruce was considering asking Alfred if he could be home-schooled. Little to no social interaction, no “Buddy program," and eating Alfred’s cooking all day sounded like the most heavenly thing he had ever heard of. But he knew it would be a hard sell.

Bruce considered ditching his lunch plans with Wally to hide in the school bathroom with his lunch box,  but of course, Wally snatched him right from his locker and pretty much dragged him to the cafeteria. Bruce found himself becoming increasingly annoyed. He was struggling to keep his temper in check, since that had been what had gotten him in trouble at all of his other schools.

He found himself dragged to a table that held…more people than he wanted to deal with, to be frank. Most of the kids were smiling politely at him. There were some that were just eyeing him warily, like he was suddenly going to "go psycho" and take out a knife and start murdering them. He imagined he most likely looked to be one of the most unfriendly people in the cafeteria. He wasn’t really in a good mood. According to Alfred he rarely was, and when he was he never really ever saw anyone. 

“Everyone, may I introduce you to Bruce.  He is my buddy, and he can be yours too.” Bruce rolled his eyes at Wally’s introduction. Most of the table groaned, while some snickered. “Bruce, may I introduce you to my loyal followers,” He gestured first towards a boy who had a muscular build that was covered pretty well by an oversized flannel shirt.  He had bright blue eyes, a kind face and dark hair. “This is Clark Kent, he’s a quarterback for the football team and a total boy scout.” Clark frowned in response to his introduction. “Helps old ladies cross the street and everything.” Clark rolled his eyes but still smiled good naturedly and nodded at Bruce.

“Nice to meet you,” he said with a big grin. Bruce simply nodded back at him. 

“Then this here is Diana Prince.” Wally gestured to a girl sitting beside Clark. She was beautiful, with long flowing raven hair that unraveled down her back.  She had fierce eyes that reflected a light of kindness, and a smile that made her all the more gorgeous. “She’s in our high school Human Rights club, and is trying to get the school to make a female wrestling team.” Bruce raised both of his eyebrows at the last part and Diana simply sat back and crossed her arms over her chest. 

“It is ridiculous the limits they put on females when it comes to sports in this school,” Diana informed him levelly. “Other schools at least have a half decent sports program, offering up for more selection. At this school it’s pitiful.” 

“Have you put together a petition?” Bruce inquired. 

“Well…no…not yet,” Diana responded, with her head cocked to the side as she eyed Bruce suspiciously. 

“You should definitely put one together,” Bruce told her. “The school probably won’t listen if just one student is sending in a complaint every once and awhile. It doesn’t truly affect them. If you get enough people to sign that are into other sports, then perhaps they will take you more seriously.” He said this crisply, his voice reminiscent of a business man. Perhaps, he thought, it was a good thing, since he would be inheriting his Father’s company, and was at this point, being groomed for it. 

“That might be a good idea,” The boy, Clark, agreed as he looked directly at Diana. “You could get your human rights club to sign it. Also I’m pretty sure a lot of the girls here would sign it, since you’re not the only one frustrated by the lack of choices.” 

“I’d expect a signature from the football team’s quarterback,” she informed Clark, with a teasing smile. “Perhaps the entire team.”   
 

“She also takes fencing outside of school,” Wally continued. “She used to be part of the school’s swim team but the entire thing got dropped last year due to school cutbacks. She also refuses to try out for track.” Wally crossed his arms and Diana rolled her eyes. 

“Anyway, let us speed through the rest, John Stewart, Shayera Hol, Dinah Lance and-.” Wally was cut off.

“Bruce,” a voice said from behind them. Bruce turned to see Oliver Queen. He knew Oliver went to the school. He wasn’t overly excited about seeing him. They both had money, but that fact didn’t make them the bestest friends in the whole wide world. Though, Bruce did know him better than anyone else at the table. “Didn’t know you switched here.” 

Bruce shrugged as Oliver took a seat right next to Dinah. “It was sudden.”

“Uh-huh,” Oliver looked at him strangely, as he put his arm around Dinah. “Sudden.” He repeated. 

“Yes,” Bruce’s eyes narrowed. “Very sudden.”  Stupid Queen. Why was he going to a public school, anyway? He had made the rounds to all the fancy boarding schools. Of course, if he got kicked out of any of them, Queen was probably the type to brag about it, unlike Bruce.

They stared at each other for a few moments before Wally cleared his throat awkwardly. “Well, this is the group!” he announced, as he took an available seat next to John. It was obvious they had thrown extra chairs around the lunch table. It was going be a tight seating. “Take a seat!” 

Bruce contemplated faking a stomach illness, but didn’t want them to think he was wimping out…especially not Queen. So he assessed his seating options. The table was overflowing, but there was a seat next to either Clark or the other side of Oliver. So he picked Clark, who actually pulled the seat out for him like a good date and then pushed it in when he sat down.

“See?” Wally had a smug smile on his face. “Boy scout.”

“It’s called manners,” Clark muttered.

“It’s called a merit badge,” Wally replied, and Oliver cracked up. 

“So Bruce,” Diana addressed him, just as Bruce was began taking out his lunch out. “What do you think of school thus far?” Diana asked pleasantly. Bruce stiffened his posture.  He was hoping to just be able to eat while the rest of them conversed and ignored his existence. Of course the people he sat with had to be  _polite.  
_  


“It’s nice,” he responded politely back. 

“Meet anyone interesting?” Clark asked as he bit into his peanut butter and…banana sandwich. 

“Yeah, y’know. Brucie,” Oliver’s nickname for him really made him want to punch him. “Interesting.” He repeated with a wink.

“No.” Bruce replied curtly, and Wally looked around the lunch table as it fell into silence.

“It’s raining out today,” he eventually said, his voice a whine. “What do they do in gym when it’s raining out?” 

“Why are you complaining?” Diana asked. “You’re great at dodgeball.” 

“I’m great at dodging,” Wally corrected. “Besides, I run around enough during track and I prefer not to have giant balls being hurled at my head.” 

Bruce just listened while he ate the lunch that Alfred packed him. He even chewed quietly in an attempt to stay under the radar, to avoid any further questioning. 

“Hey, Bruce, you should be much more interested in this,” Wally informed him.  Bruce swore Wally was attempting to peer under the table to figure out which foot was Bruce’s so he could nudge him. “You have gym with me, Diana and Clark after all.” 

“Gym with Luthor,” John winced. “Don’t know if I envy your position. On the bright side, you get to hurl those things at his big head.” 

“ _Please,_ ” Wally dismissed. “No one’s ever actually gotten Luthor that I can remember. Not with his goonies blocking the way. They throw so hard, kids go down like bricks.” 

“You good at dodgeball, Bruce?” Clark asked and nudged Bruce’s shoulder. Bruce glared and tried to sit more on the edge of his chair. Which didn’t go unnoticed by Clark, judging by his frown.

“Never played.” Bruce shrugged.

“Yes, at Bruce’s fancy boarding schools they didn’t play dodgeball.  They simple juggled diamonds and burned money,” Oliver joked, and Bruce assessed the positives and negatives to tossing his bottled water at his head. It’d be good practice. 

“Those games grow too complicated for you, Oliver?” Bruce questioned as he took a sip out of his water bottle in an attempt to avoid temptation. 

“Look who’s talking,” Oliver snorted. “What are you doing here anyway, Bruce? Not like you can’t afford to go to yet another boarding school.” 

Bruce gave him the biggest fakest smile he could muster. “Could ask you the same question.” 

“Boarding schools get a little boring over time, Brucie.” Oliver responded, he returned the fake smile with one of his own.

“Indeed they do.” Bruce agreed. The two kept eye contact for a tense period of time before Diana spoke up.

“Do you play any sports, Bruce?” She was obviously trying to change the topic from the growing rich boy brawl. 

Bruce blinked and considered the question. “I’ve never really played any school sports.” He didn’t mention any of his out of school activities. But of course…

“What about out of school?” she asked, leaving him no opportunity to avoid answering the question. 

“I take martial arts,” he said slowly, his voice quieter than normal. He noticed that Wally and Dinah leaned in a little more to hear him. Dinah looked very interested, as well as Diana. “I’ve taken fencing.” He nodded at Diana. “I just…take a few things here and there," he responded.  He didn’t feel like revealing too much.

“You ever tried football?” Clark asked as he took another big bite of his sandwich and then a sip out of a juicebox. “You seem fit enough.”

“Not interested,” Bruce answered plainly, and Clark frowned again. 

“Not much of a team player, Bruce?” Oliver asked. Bruce shrugged. Guilty as charged. Well, not that he’d ever really tried. 

“Like you’re one to talk,” Dinah shot back at him, and Oliver shrugged, as well.

“You two should create a team of your own,” Wally suggested. “The Billionaire Boys.” 

“Saving people from bad caviar.” Oliver added, and Bruce actually had to stop a smile...though he was pretty positive his lips turned up...a little. 

“Would I get to be a member?” Wally had seen who has spoken these words, before the rest of them.  Or, at least, Bruce assumed that’s why his eyes went very wide before the person standing behind Bruce even spoke.  

“Sorry, Lex.” Oliver didn’t skip a beat. “You gotta have hair.  Team rule.” 

Lex’s eyes narrowed, but he directed his attention to Bruce. “Bruce.” His voice was silky smooth. “I had no idea you were going to attend this school.”

“It happened pretty suddenly.” Bruce’s voice was guarded. He didn’t trust Luthor. He never did. 

“I guess so,” Lex agreed, his eyes focused on an obvious mission. What exactly that mission was, Bruce wasn’t sure of. “I see you’ve already made some…friends.” Lex looked at the rest of the table dismissively.

“He’s Wally’s buddy.” Oliver informed him, and Wally looked like he wanted to murder him that very moment. 

“How…well…how unfortunate.” Lex looked Wally up and down before returning his gaze back to Bruce. “I know it’s a tad late…I really did mean to catch up with you earlier, but I had some other matters to attend to, and a red blur seemed to keep dragging you away.” He didn’t even look at Wally, but Bruce knew he was referring to him. “I’d like to invite you to sit at my table for the rest of the lunch period. I can assure you the conversation is probably a lot more intelligent.” 

Out of the corner of his eye, Bruce could see that Clark was seething. He knew Lex saw it, too, which made his smile grow that much more smug. The two must hate each other. Maybe he and Clark had more in common than Bruce originally thought. “I’ve always been one to enjoy the more simple things in life, Lex,” Bruce replied. “I’m keeping up with this conversation just fine and well,” He looked at his lunch and then back at Lex with a fake smile. “I’m really quite comfortable where I am. Like you said, pity you didn’t find me earlier.”

Luthor’s eyes darkened, and when he replied, his voice was strained. “Really, Bruce? Always thought you had finer taste.” 

“I prefer the atmosphere here,” Bruce replied curtly.  He really just wanted that to be the end of it. 

Luthor tsk’d. “You know, Brucie, it’s quite rude to shoot down a polite invitation like that,” His eyes lit with fire, and after his next words, Bruce himself was seeing red. “But I understand your parents weren’t around long enough to teach you manners.” Bruce felt a fire ignite in his stomach, he found his fists clenching. Luthor’s hand then gave his shoulder a pat and he leaned in as he said. “Lay a rose on their graves for me, okay?” With that ,Bruce’s vision blackened, and he wasn’t even aware he was starting to rise from his seat until he felt a hand restraining him. He turned to see it was Clark, who was looking at him intently. He gave a small shake of his head at Bruce, his eyes had anger in them, too, but much more aware and calm than Bruce was capable of being at that moment. Luthor gave his shoulder another pat, his eyes shining. He then nodded to the rest of them before he swiftly walked away. Just about everyone was now looking at Bruce, mostly stunned and nervous. Except Clark who was still restraining him slightly.

Bruce glared at him and hissed out; “I don’t need to be restrained.”

“Fighting back wouldn’t have done any good,” Clark calmly explained as he moved his hand. His eyes now looked almost sympathetic, which at the moment, annoyed Bruce. “Luthor has almost the entire school wrapped around his finger, you would be expelled immediately.” 

“I can handle myself.” Bruce seethed. 

“For what it’s worth,” Oliver cut in. Bruce wasn’t really in the mood for him. “I think you would have kicked his ass.” Bruce blinked in surprise at that, and the whole table quickly nodded their heads in agreement. Including Clark. 

Bruce considered that for a moment before he snorted and returned back to his food. “Please. I would have wiped the floor with him.”

The table continued to nod their heads in agreement, while they compared the smashing of Luthor’s head to cracking an egg open. To his surprise, Bruce actually found himself enjoying some bits of the conversation. He even felt slightly amused. He’d never really…hung around people or had people make such a strong effort to hang around him. He vaguely wondered if this is what it was like to have friends.


	2. He Who Knows It All

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bruce realizes how much Lex Luhor really controls the school.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who read, commented and left kudos on the last chapter!!! :D It means so much!

Bruce made an effort to enjoy his classes, he really did. However, a lot  of the time he found himself growing bored of it. He had an above average mind and found himself knowing most of the things his teachers tried to teach him, to the point where he felt like going up to the front of the room and teaching the class himself. His worst was his US History teacher - one who couldn’t go more than three words without saying “um,” and didn’t seem to like Bruce very much. To make it worse he had the same class as Luthor and could feel his eyes on the back of his head. If Luthor had had the capability of shooting lasers out of his eyes, Bruce would have been dead. The annoyance Bruce felt at having allowed Luthor to have the the last word at lunch had not dulled throughout his classes, either. In fact, it seemed to grow stronger.

 When gym rolled around, Bruce froze as he realized that while had had been distracted by Luthor most of the day, he had forgotten to think of a plan for one major scenario. The locker room. He wondered if he got there early if it would be possible to change while no one else was in there. He had some…very specific reasons. Very valid reasons, at that. But of course, Clark had found him, not Wally, for once, and had told him he’d show him to the locker room so they could get changed. He seemed oblivious to Bruce’s inner monologue.

 “Dodgeball isn’t too bad,” Clark explained to him, as Bruce grabbed his change of clothes from his locker. “It’s mainly when they pick teams that is the annoying part - it is to Wally, at least. Despite the fact he plays pretty well, people assume he’s too scrawny,” Clark continued. When he saw Bruce had his hands on what seemed to be a gym bag, Clark grabbed his arm to pull him to the locker room, which barely gave Bruce time to close his locker - which, of course, earned him another glare and had Bruce wondering how Clark hadn’t yet comprehended the “not touching” rule. Possibly, Clark had, but he just ignored it, because he simply just continued talking. “Our gym teacher also favors Luthor, but so do most of the teachers. Luthor is a total jerk when it comes to…well…anything. He always aims for the head or stomach. So watch out. One student got really hurt from it once. Nearly cracked his head open.” Bruce nodded, his mind still more focused on the locker room problem. He hadn’t really thought about it as much as he probably should have before going to school that day.

 “What if he’s on our team?” Bruce questioned, as he and Clark walked down the school hallway together, with him standing far closer than Bruce’s personal space issues preferred - even if Clark did have the common sense to release his arm.

 Clark chuckled ruefully. “Luthor is never on our team. He's usually one of the captains - the one that picks. Trust me. He’ll never pick any of us.” The way Clark talked about Luthor…it made Bruce wonder about their history. He contemplated if it was just Luthor being Luthor that made Clark so upset, or if Luthor had a vendetta against him.

 “Ah” Bruce responded plainly, and then an idea struck him. “Hey, you can keep heading on to the locker room. I need to use the bathroom.” He was slowly edging towards the boys' bathroom but Clark simply nodded and stopped outside the door.

 

“Sure thing. I’ll wait for you,” he offered.

 “Uh…it’s fine. I know how to get to the locker room,” Bruce said, as he went to push open the door to the stalls. Empty. Perfect. “You don’t have to wait for me.”

 “I have no problem waiting,” Clark shrugged. “Besides, I don’t want you getting lost.”

 “I won’t get lost,” Bruce felt slightly offended as he walked in and Clark followed behind. “I know where it is.”

 “Still.” Clark leaned against the sink and gestured to the stalls. Bruce realized he probably wouldn’t be able to get rid of him. Damn boy scouts.

 “Wait outside the room at least,” Bruce muttered. “It’ll enable us to get there faster.” He had no idea if that would actually help at all. But it was the first excuse that came to mind.

 “You know Bruce,  I’m starting to suspect someone may have some personal space issues,” Clark snarked with a smirk.  He then jumped off the sink and left the bathroom.

 “At least you’re figuring it out,” Bruce replied under his breath.  With that, and Clark’s exit, he expected him not to hear it, but apparently Clark had abnormally good hearing - at least he suspected it judging by the snort that came from outside the bathroom door following his remark.

 Bruce rushed into the stall and changed his clothes as quickly as possible. He stuffed his old ones in his gym bag and then promptly left the stall and pushed open the door to step out of the bathroom. Clark was leaning against the wall next to it and looked at him with wide eyes. His brows then creased in confusion.

 “We…change in the locker room,” he stated, as he continued looked at Bruce with confusion.

“I know.” Bruce said enigmatically, and then started walking. He really did know where the locker room was located - though he supposed he should just go directly to the gym.

 Clark was keeping up with him. They were walking side by side and Clark seemed to be deep in thought and to be considering something before he spoke again. “We all change in there, y’know. There’s nothing weird or unusual about it." He said this softly, with understanding, and Bruce looked at him in confusion. He tried to decipher the meaning behind it.

 “I just thought as long as I was in the bathroom I might as well change in there,” Bruce lied. “It wasn’t planned.” Actually, it was. But he just met Clark and Clark didn’t need to know that. But he didn’t seem to buy the excuse either. Nice and smart, though Bruce. Just great.

 Clark seemed to take pity on Bruce  -for whatever reason he assumed Bruce didn’t want to change publicly. So he nodded his head and let the topic drop. They walked the rest of the way in silence, and Bruce went straight into the gym while Clark changed in the locker room.

 

\---------------------------------

 

The gym teacher was a very big man with a bald head. If Bruce didn’t know better he would have thought he and Lex were related. The man was holding a ball in his hand, smacking his hand against it idly, and he seemed to be taking a headcount of all the students in the gym. Once he finished and seemed satisfied he started talking. His voice was exactly like Bruce pictured it would be: loud.

 “I’m sure we’re all aware of the weather today,” The teacher’s voice boomed and echoed through the gym. Bruce wasn’t easily intimidated. “Which means we’re gonna play some dodgeball. Now, in case some of you live under a rock I’m going to tell you all the rules. They’re very simple. You take one of these here balls...” He lifted the ball into the air, on full display. “You toss it at a member of the other team. If the ball hits you you’re out of the game and you sit on the bench,” He gestured to the long wooden bench. “If you catch the ball then the one who threw it at you is out of the game. The goal is to get out all the members of the other team. Now, do we all understand each other?” He questioned and everyone either nodded or said “Yes” in response. The coach nodded to show satisfaction. “Good. Now, team captains this time around are Luthor...” Luthor stood tall and proud while a few people groaned and muttered under their breath. “And Lane.” Clark actually seemed to perk up at that and everyone shifted their gaze to a pretty girl who had a no-nonsense expression and stood just as tall and proud as Luthor. She turned to gaze at him with an expression that clearly read "I will squash you like a bug." Bruce liked her already. Apparently so did Clark, who was making moon eyes at her, and sighing wistfully.

 “Now, each of you get on either side of the gym, pick your teams and let’s play some dodgeball!” he ordered, and everyone quickly obeyed.

 Luthor picked first and selected a muscular boy to the back who simply smiled smugly and stood next to him.

“Goonie number one,” Wally whispered in his ear. “He’s the worst. Throws hard and fast. One kid had to go home from school after getting hit by him.” Wally’s voice had dread in it, but Bruce wasn’t really affected. He just logged the information in his head and stared at Lane. Clark was still looking wistful and Bruce knew he was silently praying that the girl would pick him first. That being said, he looked crestfallen and Bruce looked surprised when her sharp toned voice demanded:

 “Wayne.”

 Let the games begin.

\---------------------

Wally wasn’t exaggerating. Luthor and his goonies were a royal pain in the ass during dodgeball. Luthor 's tactic basically consisted of hiding behind his teammates while they threw the dodgeballs, which really did seem to hit the people on Bruce's team like a ton of bricks. They were fast and strong. Wally was good at dodging, but was pitiful at throwing. Diana had incredible reflexes and was able to catch  balls thrown her way, and she returned throws with incredible precision. The only word Bruce could think of to accurately describe Lane was "spitfire." Clark was a pretty decent player himself.  He threw hard and fast, but not as hard as Luthor’s goonies, which Bruce assumed was on purpose. He couldn’t imagine Clark ever wanting to hurt anyone. Bruce found himself almost enjoying it. He was rather agile and kept in the best shape he could, which made his throws fast and hard and his dodging successful. He could have sworn he saw one of the girls from the other team checking him out most of the game.

 But it didn’t truly get intense for him, or get him at all riled up until what happened next - until Luthor sent a ball hurtling with great force so it hit one of the male scrawny kids from their team right in the head, which sent landed him on the floor on impact alone. A lot of people from his team froze at that - with a few from Luthor's team joining them in their shocked amazement. With the exception of Luthor and his two goonies.  Bruce looked at them, and they were smiling, with Lex looking particularly smug. All the teacher did was merely blow his whistle and scream to the boy to get on the bench. Clark ran over to help him out, while he avoided the balls still being hurled in their direction, but no one reacted quite as quick as Bruce who ran over to pick up the ball that had hit him and hurled it with almost inhuman speed and force at Luthor’s big egg of a head. The goonies didn’t have time to block it, and Luthor didn’t have time to judge as it headed right at him and sent him tumbling to the ground. Everyone seemed to gape at him in shock, and Bruce heard Wally’s startled laugh before the sound of a whistle echoed throughout the gym.

 “LUTHOR!” The gym teacher ran over to Luthor’s side, which disgusted Bruce. The man made no effort to check on the other student who was still leaning against Clark, who had stopped only to view the scene in surprise. The kid also seemed to have made a slight effort to raise his head. “Hey, hey.” The coach was kneeling beside him as the two goonies looked from Lex to Bruce in surprise. “You okay, kid?”

 “HE DID THAT ON PURPOSE!” Luthor bellowed, his voice echoed through the room as he cradled his head. His mouth in the form of a snarl and spit streaming along with his string of words. “HE SHOULD BE SENT TO THE OFFICE!”

 Bruce looked at him in disbelief, but Lane beat him to the punch. “For what?! He was playing the game!” She yelled, a fire lit behind her eyes. Yep, spitfire for sure. “It’s called dodgeball for a reason, Luthor, AND YOU DIDN’T DODGE!”

 “No one asked for your opinion, Lane.” Lex barked and then looked at Bruce again. “HE WAS AIMING FOR MY HEAD!” He cried out, with the teacher still kneeling beside him. Lex was positively seething. His eyes reflected pure anger and hatred.

 “Not my fault,” Bruce said calmly, unable to help himself. His composure completely intact. Something he’d learned from Alfred. “It was the biggest target.”

 

Everyone in the gym who dared, erupted into laughter after that. But the coach quickly silenced it with another blow of his whistle.  He then rose to his feet and made his way towards Bruce. “You know, Wayne, I don’t like your attitude. Not only that, but the rules are to only hit bellow the shoulders.” He stated as he looked at Bruce face to face. Once again, Bruce wasn’t easily intimidated.

 “Don’t know what you mean, regarding my attitude. Also, you said the rules at the beginning and never once mentioned anything about it being bellow the shoulders. Not only that, but he just hit someone from my team in the head.” Bruce replied casually, not breaking the eye contact. It was the teacher’s turn to look furious.

 “What I mean, Wayne...” He leaned in closer. “Is to either get changed or take a seat because you’re out for the rest of the game!!” He bellowed. A grin split across Lex’s face, while everyone gaped at the teacher in disbelief, except for Bruce, who remained his composure and did not display his inner surprise. “I don’t know how you were treated at your other boarding schools, Wayne,” the teacher continued. “But I’m not here to serve you caviar and tea.” Bruce’s eyes narrowed at that. So he wasn’t here to serve him tea, he thought, just to kiss Luthor’s feet.

 “That’s not even fair!” Lane cried out again. She went to say something else but the teacher raised his hand to her in a halting motion.

 “Not one more word from you, Miss Lane,” He growled. “Or you’re benched, as well.” His eyes were deadly serious.

 Lane blanched and everyone in the gym was totally silent, even though he noticed everyone from his team, and even some from Luthor’s, looked as if they were fuming. Clark was shaking his head mutely and Wally was looking off to the side, with his mouth formed in a tight, thin, line. Diana looked like she wanted to throw the gym teacher and Luthor out into space. Bruce merely shrugged, retaining his composure.

 “I have a butler that does that stuff for me, anyway.” He said briskly and then walked elegantly towards the boy who was looking at him in shock, still with one of his arms still thrown over Clark’s shoulder. Bruce offered him his arm to hoist the kid up and bring him the rest of the way to the bench. Clark released him and Bruce merely said to him, “I’m going to help him to the bench and then go change. Lucky me, I got an unexpected free period.”

Clark smiled and ran back to their team's side. The teacher was still looking at Bruce with something akin to ferocity - mainly due to Bruce’s unperturbed manner. Bruce felt that it was most likely that he thought that Bruce wasn’t used to injustice as much as he was. Bruce merely stayed in his same “classy” mode - once again, a mode adopted from living with Alfred - as he helped the other kid to the bench. Just as he helped him sit down, the kid leaned forward and whispered “thank you” to Bruce. He blinked in surprise before he gave the kid a quick nod and walked back into the locker room. Well, his changing situation worked out unexpectedly well. He also caught sight of how much Luthor really did have the teacher wrapped around his finger. It was incredible to Bruce how much, if one wanted to, they could really abuse the system. In all the other classes he had shared with Luthor that day, every single teacher showed favoritism towards him - despite the fact that Luthor caused more disruption in class than anyone else.   The other students always got blamed for his actions - even if the teacher knew they didn’t do it. Bruce found this to be disgusting.

Prior to that day, Bruce had met Lex a few times, and like he had told Wally, he never took a liking to him.  Everything about Luthor just screamed arrogance. The way he walked, the way he talked, even his false smile that never met his eyes. Lex Luthor cared about Lex Luthor. Even if Lex had grabbed him earlier in the day and asked him to sit with him at lunch, Bruce still wouldn’t have done it. He’d rather have sat alone than sit with someone who he knew didn’t have a shred of kindness in the offer. If he had sat with Luthor it would have come at a price. He’d most likely have been expected to be one of the guys shielding Lex from the dodgeballs that day. Bruce never would have ever gone for that. He was no one’s human shield.

Bruce couldn’t believe that he got kicked out of the game for playing it the same way Lex did. Hell, he wasn’t even half as bad as Lex was. He threw his gym shirt to the ground hard enough that it made a loud SMACK noise - one that echoed through the locker room. The sound caused a hint of satisfaction, so he did the same with the rest of his clothing. Then after he was dressed in his regular clothes he shoved his gym clothing back into the bag. Gym was his last class of the day, so he considered calling Alfred to have him come a few minutes early, but then he would immediately know something had happened. Not that he wouldn't soon would figure out, anyway. Keeping a secret from Alfred was impossible. The man could read him like a book.

\----------

Bruce stuck around inside until after the bell rang. It beat going outside to wait and either getting soaked or finding cover and watching the rain splatter on everything. He was at his locker making sure he had all the stuff he needed when he felt a hand clasp his shoulder. He turned around in surprise, half ready for a fight when he came face to face with Clark, who had Diana and Wally with him.

“I can’t believe you got Lex,” Wally said immediately. His voice was a mix between shock and admiration. “No one’s ever gotten Lex. He had to go to the NURSE’S office to get his head checked!” Wally’s voice now rang with amusement. He even seemed to be vibrating a bit and was bouncing from heel to toe.

“What about the other kid?” Bruce inquired with genuine concern, even though you couldn’t really detect it on his voice. “Is he okay?”

“He’s fine,” Clark told him. His gentle tone and understanding gaze showed he might have picked up on it. “At least he seems it. He’s walking now and everything. Said he didn’t need to see the nurse.”

“You shouldn’t have gotten benched,” Diana suddenly interjected. Her voice wrought with the injustice of it all. “What the teacher did was wrong.” She shook her head, her flashing eyes reflecting just how furious she was on the inside. Her body language revealed none of her anger.  To the people passing by, she probably looked perfectly composed and calm.

“It’s fine,” Bruce shrugged. “It was worth it,” A brief smile flashed across his face. “Believe me. It was SO worth it.”

Everyone grinned and Clark looked like he was about to talk until his face went expressionless and he stared right in front of him and behind Bruce. The reason why was revealed mere moments later when a female voice shouted; “HEY, YOU. WAYNE.” It was Lane, who pushed through the crowds of students heading for the exit.

“What?” Bruce asked.

“Lois Lane.” She stuck her hand out. “What happened today was an injustice if I’ve ever seen one. But I’d say it was the perfect way to introduce you to the injustice that is this school. Lex Luthor feels he runs this place - and he might as well.” She shook her head and rolled her eyes.

Bruce shook her hand and nodded slowly. “It sure seems that way.”

“It’s obvious to the naked eye.” She pulled her hand away and put both hands on her hips and shook her head. “It’s ridiculous. I’ve seen so many kids take headshots in that game, and many others, from Luthor and his henchman and no one ever does anything about it. The one time someone finally sticks it to him and the teacher throws you on the bench,” She shook her head in disdain, but took in the whole of him with respect. “Just wanted to say I’m glad to see someone finally stick it to him using his own game. Pleasure to meet you. I’ve gotta go. But it really was a pleasure and a sight if I’ve ever seen one.” She nodded briskly at the others and walked away.

“Bye, Lois,” Clark said quietly, but she was already nearing the door. He sighed and looked at the ground for a few moments before Wally clapped him on the back and he looked up again with a big smile firmly in place and the sad eyes gone. It was like they were never there to begin with.

“I see you got the appreciation of the Lois Lane,” Clark joked and his eyes now shone with amusement. “Watch, by tomorrow you’ll be the school’s hero.”

Bruce shivered at that though. “Good God, I hope not,” he said earnestly, before he shut his locker and started moving in the same direction as Lois had taken. Alfred would have to be there by now. He’s always early.

Bruce couldn’t help feeling surprised when he heard the rest following him.

“Hey, Bruce, about the buddy sheet.” Bruce internally groaned. “You said you’re filling it out while doing home-work tonight, right? That would work out fine. But we’d have to take some time to compare the sheets since it’s supposed to help us learn more about each other as compare answers,” Wally explained. His voice was fast and sounded rushed…but it always did.

“Buddy sheet?” Diana inquired, mirth obvious in her voice.

“It’s part of the buddy kit,” Wally explained. They were still following Bruce as he went through the school doors and searched for Alfred while on the steps. “It’s a get to know me type thing. It’s kind of co-…well, completely dorky. But can’t blame them for trying.”

“I think it’s a great idea,” Clark said as Bruce continued to scan for Alfred. "Where on earth was he?!" Bruce wondered impatiently. “It’s a good way for new students to get to know people,” Clark finished.

“You would think that,” Wally teased, and Clark frowned and crossed his arms over his chest. Diana laughed politely into her hand.

“It is a nice idea,” she agreed, and Clark brightened up. “At least they put thought into it.”

Bruce walked down the school steps, emerging from the cover of the school, and right into the rain. as he continued his search for Alfred’s car on foot. But the rain stopped pelting him as fast as it started and when he looked up he found himself covered by an umbrella. He had to smirk at the person holding it.

“You’ll get your things soaked, Master Bruce.” Alfred scolded. He, too, was standing under the dryness of the umbrella. Clark, Diana and Wally had abruptly stopped talking and were looking at both of them.

“I was just looking for you,” Bruce said. “I didn’t see the car.”

“I parked further up the street,” Alfred informed him primly. “There was a lovely coffee shop in that vicinity. Quite delicious scones, if I do say so myself. I didn’t get you any, but you mustn’t fret, there are some fresh baked cookies at home.” Bruce brightened up a bit at that, despite himself. He was trying not to eat many sweets, but with Alfred it was nearly impossible. The man wanted to ruin his health plans, he just knew it.

“Are you his butler?!” Wally asked in awe. Clark groaned a bit after Wally asked it. They were all still standing on the steps looking at Bruce and Alfred, and Diana also bit her lip a bit. Wally merely continued to stare.

Alfred looked at Wally, unperturbed. He opened his mouth to respond but Bruce interjected. “Wally, this is Alfred Pennyworth. Alfred, this is Wally West, Clark Kent and Diana Prince.”

“A pleasure, young sirs and madam,” Alfred greeted, bowing slightly and politely.

They all replied with their different greetings and bowed slightly, as well, and nodded. Wally still looked stunned while Clark and Diana were both smiling politely.

“Well, Master Bruce, those cookies are probably getting quite cold at this point and I do believe that bag of yours is further weighed down by your assignments.  Both require your immediate attention.” Alfred informed him. Bruce nodded quickly, just happy to just get out of the situation.

“Yes, of course.” Bruce nodded and then looked back to Wally, Diana and Clark. “Um…bye.” He said.

“Bye!” They all replied and waved.

“See you tomorrow, Bruce! We’ll compare buddy sheets then!” Wally told him while giving him a thumbs up. Alfred raised an eyebrow and Bruce scratched the back of his head and nodded to Wally.

“We’ll see you tomorrow, Bruce! I gotta go, as well.  Can’t keep Ma and Pa waiting.” Clark took a dash through the rain, all while still waving. Bruce gave a quick wave to all of them as he and Alfred walked off together, as if in sync.

“So, Master Bruce,” Alfred started as they began walking up the street towards the car. “May I ask what this 'buddy sheet' is?” His eyes shined with mirth, while his voice and face were still completely impassive. Bruce really hoped his cheeks weren’t red.

“Uh, yes, well, it’s, um, a school thing. Y’know, how the school assigned me to this guy. I have to fill out this paper full of questions. Kind of like a survey. Then we compare and learn more about each other.” All of this was muttered under his breath.

“Well, I do believe that is a grand idea,” Alfred commended as they started to near closer to the car. “A perfect activity for you while enjoying your cookies and milk...where you will, I’m sure, take the time to apprise me on the rest of your day.”

“Of course, Alfred.” Bruce sighed. He would fill Alfred in on most of the day.

“Every little detail, I’m sure.” Alfred’s voice dripped with sarcasm, and Bruce sighed, again. Whether or not he told the man, he thought, Alfred would figure it out.

Alfred figured everything out. 


	3. First Impressions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> On Bruce's second day of school Lex decides to make his next move.

Bruce awoke the next morning to the lovely sound of Alfred ranting on about how late he was going to be and how Bruce had school again and he can’t just sleep the day away. The rant took an intermission during his shower, but continued over breakfast, where Alfred continued to scold him about his sleeping patterns and about how his nocturnal tendencies were abominable and how he was not a bat for God’s sake.

“I hope with the late hours you are keeping that you are at least spending them studying,” Alfred scolded as he stared Bruce down. This, of course, made Bruce feel as if he was but five years of age.

“I have all my home-work done,” Bruce replied simply. He was idly picking at his waffles. He wasn’t truly hungry that morning. Bruce rarely seemed to be hungry at all, anymore. Alfred had chastised him about his appetite many times....mainly about how he took the time to make him numerous meals and desserts, and Bruce barely touched them. It wasn’t that Alfred wasn’t a good cook. On the contrary, Alfred had to be the best cook/baker Bruce had ever encountered in his life. It was just that Bruce often was either watching what he ate for health and fitness reasons, or as written earlier, he just never truly found himself hungry. He did give in to temptation the night before, though, and ate some of Alfred’s delicious cookies.

“I suppose that also includes your 'buddy sheet,'  yes?” Alfred inquired. There was a glint of mirth in his eyes. Bruce stilled his poking and shrunk into his seat a little. Alfred huffed.

“I filled out most of it.” Bruce took a sip of his juice and set it down with more force than he intended. He scowled. “It’s just that it was very...invasive.”

“Oh dear! Don’t tell me it dared to ask your favorite color?” Alfred deadpanned and Bruce’s scowl deepened. Bruce was a very private person, who didn’t enjoy letting on even the smallest of details about himself.

“It’s ludicrous,” Bruce complained, as he then stared at his waffles in disdain, which caused Alfred to resist a long suffering sigh at the dramatics. “He doesn’t need to know so much about me.”

“On the contrary, Master Bruce, I actually think it could serve you quite well to let someone discover more about you,” Alfred told him. This was advice he had tried before, but Bruce was stubborn. He had been since he was very young. Even before…well, all that happened.

“What is there to discover, anyway?” Bruce groaned. He felt Alfred’s hand on his shoulder, and he raised his head to meet the Englishman’s gaze.

“Quite a lot, Master Bruce. You know this. If not, you wouldn’t keep yourself so carefully guarded for fear of exposing yourself too much.” Bruce seemed to sink further into his seat at that. “But, young sir, your methods do not serve you well. For while there are things deep within us all that we fear to be discovered, there is also much good that emerges than bad. Trust me, Master Bruce, there is far more good in you than there is bad.”

“I’m glad you think so,” Bruce replied, head down. “I really do.” His voice was genuine, but not at all happy. He had done what Alfred had feared, heard the words, but not had believed them.

Alfred squeezed his shoulder one more time, tight and firm, before he released it and gave Bruce a worried gaze.  He usually didn’t reflect on his face the worry he felt inside for Bruce. At that moment, however, he felt more comfortable doing so, as Bruce wasn’t even looking up to see it. Alfred did feel concerned for the boy, constantly. The multiple times Bruce had been tossed out of school, the amount of people with whom he experienced problems, the way Bruce isolated himself from any type of social interaction. The main thing you caught the boy doing was exercising constantly. He never saved time for much else. Indeed, the concern Alfred felt for him went very deep. “Do not pick at your food sir,” he advised, his voice stern as ever and the flicker of concern washed from his face. “I made if for you to eat.”

“Right.” Bruce’s voice was practically a whisper. But for once, the boy did as he was told and finished the rest of his waffles.

Alfred couldn’t help a smirk of satisfaction at that.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

Bruce left the car considerably quicker than he had the day before. Though he was definitely not eager, he was at least a bit more comfortable...though he continued to be hyperaware of everything that happened around him. For example, when he walked to his locker, he seemed to hear a lot more whispers than even the day before, and he noticed more fingers being pointed in his direction. It seemed that not only now the whole school new exactly who he was, the whole school also heard what had happened the day before. Apparently getting thrown out of a game of dodgeball was hot news around the school. But of course, it was assumed by Bruce that most likely someone had blown it out of proportion.

“Well, you come to school one day and you’re already all people talk about.” Bruce winced as he shut his locker and was met with the face of Oliver Queen, who was smirking and looked highly amused. “You hit Lex Luthor in the face with a dodgeball?” Bruce nodded. “So hard that he was knocked right on his ass?” Bruce nodded again. “So hard that the teacher flipped out and had you benched?” Bruce was getting tired of the questions so he replied, “All of the accusations you just made are true, yes.” He was surprised by the loud “smack” on his back which was Oliver’s version of a friendly pat, apparently.

“Told you that you could kick his ass!” he said cheerfully.

“Hmph,” was Bruce’s only response. Oliver merely chuckled and “escorted” him to his homeroom, even though they didn’t have the same one.  This, he assumed, was supposed to be some sort of Big Honor. Wally, of course, was late. But when he arrived he whispered right into Bruce’s ear, “LEGEND.”

~.~.~.~.~.

 

During free period, Wally found Bruce and dragged him into a spot under the school steps and plopped onto the ground. He pulled two granola bars out of his pocket and offered one to Bruce.

“I’m fine,” Bruce told him as he slowly sat across from Wally on the floor. He found it a rather odd spot to gather, but at least it was creative...though you could hear kids going up and down the steps and speaking obnoxiously loud.

Wally ate his granola bar in record time and then started in on the one he had offered Bruce. He then put a sheet directly in front of Bruce’s knees. “I kind of was a bit rushed when I did it,” he explained, his mouth full. Bruce tried to resist wrinkling his nose in disgust.

 “So, my hand writing’s a bit messy. Sorry.” Wally looked a bit sheepish. Parts of the granola bar were now somehow scattered across his face.

“It’s fine.” Bruce shrugged and slowly set his in front of Wally. “This is mine,” he explained, and Wally instantly picked it up as Bruce tried to decipher whatever it was Wally wrote. Wally's handwriting was messy. It reminded Bruce of a five year old’s when they would scribble notes and then hand them to you proudly, as if they had written something profound - and legible. He rolled his eyes at the “favorite food” question which included an answer that extended on to several post-it notes, along with a recipe for Wally’s favorite type of nachos.

“Hey, uh, Bruce,” Wally spoke rather gently, though with apparent confusion, and Bruce groaned on the inside. “You left some of the answers blank.”

Bruce sighed. He had hoped Wally wouldn’t mention it. He held back the urge to fidget a bit. “I didn’t know exactly how to answer,” he replied.

“Oh,” Wally seemed to seriously consider that. “Hey Bruce…” His eyes were large and Wally seemed to have no problem fidgeting.

“What?” Bruce felt a strong sense of dread.

“There’s a question here about your closest friends.” Wally’s voice actually contained what sounded like sympathy in it. “All you wrote was ‘none’.” He now bit his lip and held the page up to show Bruce, as if to give him proof.

Bruce shrugged and hoped Wally would just drop it. He wasn’t comfortable with the topic. Wally’s list of friends was rather extensive. It was everyone he sat with at lunch and then some more people who were on track with him.

“Don’t you have any?” Wally’s voice sounded the quietest Bruce had ever heard it. It honestly surprised him. He didn’t know Wally’s voice could even get so low.

“I’ve switched schools a lot.” Bruce tried to keep his voice as neutral as possible. “There hasn’t really been time.” He shrugged again and tried to seem pretty dismissive of it. He still had hope Wally would drop the topic.

But Wally instead looked incredibly sad, and it made Bruce highly uncomfortable. Wally's face then became determined, and Bruce couldn’t help but feel nervous.

“Well there’s no more of that.” Wally’s voice was as determined as he looked.  He shifted so he was right beside Bruce and threw an arm around him. Bruce fought the urge to shrug it off and move a comfortable distance away. “You’re here now, and not leaving anytime soon, right?”

Bruce honestly didn’t know the answer. Not for sure, anyway. He had only been at that school a day and had already caused problems. For some reason, though, he couldn’t find it within himself to say so. So he replied, “Right.”

Wally jostled him a little before he picked up Bruce’s sheet again and started comparing their answers. They didn’t have a lot in common. But that seemed to be fine with him.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

Bruce actually enjoyed seeing Lex that day. Only for the fact that he had a big purplish blue bruise on his head. With a big bump to go with it. This seemed to put him in a particularly horrible mood. Even his goonies that surrounded him seemed wary. A rather large group of people seemed to surround Lex. Of course, they didn’t all have classes together, but from what Bruce saw he could gather that a sizeable amount of people decided it was best to follow Lex - athough Bruce could tell some were in better graces with him than the others. There were some that seemed to mainly serve and hope for reward, and others that served with a better confidence. Bruce could tell most of them didn’t even like Lex. They only hung with him because it was best for them, and served them, somehow. Bruce found this to be both disgusting and sad.

Every time Bruce walked past the group of Lexites, or sat too close to them,  he could hear angry muttering,  with one of the bigger guys pounding his fist for emphasis. This was obviously an act that was supposed to intimidate him. He didn’t really fear any of them. At all. This probably made them all the more mad at him. He even heard the word “destroy” being muttered one of the times he had passed by. He honestly found it comical that Luthor and his people were putting so much time and energy into thinking of ways to “destroy” him. Bruce really didn’t feel any concern whatsoever. Whatever Luthor had planned, he was pretty sure it wouldn’t truly affect him. Bruce wasn’t one to shed a tear over ill words - the gossip - spread about him. He’d heard enough rumors at his old schools about him being crazy and a drug addict. Those were just two of many ludicrous accusations made about him. He’d once even been informed by a classmate that he was apparently a cannibal. He’d become almost numb to them. They wanted a reaction, and he wouldn't give it to them.

Luthor wasn’t the only one who had been wasting his time speaking of him. It seemed some of the other students had just as much of a lack of better things of which to speak. He was positive at that point the story had been blown out of proportion to make him sound as inhuman and ridiculous as possible.

 “You’re famous,” Wally joked. “I have at least ten people ask me today if it all really happened.”

“I had a few myself,” Diana spoke up, her lips curled into a slight smile. “It seems the bruise on Luthor’s head has given people a much more violent idea of what happened.”

“I heard that you didn’t throw the ball, that you just ran over and punched him in the face,” Clark chuckled. Bruce rolled his eyes and groaned. “Not only that, but you told the teacher to…well…go screw himself.”

Oliver seemed to find that hilarious. Bruce glared at him, which in turn just increased his laughter.

“I heard you threatened murder,” John now spoke up. “Not only that, but that you have a knife in your locker.”

“But I do.” Bruce stated and everyone went deadly silent and looked at him in shock. Bruce grimaced. “That was supposed to be funny.” He had forgotten he wasn’t very good at that. Clark gave him a pat on the back and Bruce scowled.

“You might want to work on that,” Wally advised.

“Or don’t and just tell everyone that,” Oliver told him. “No one will ever mess with you ever again.”

“Yeah, but knowing this school they’ll search his locker.” Diana was shaking her head. “Don’t.”

“Oh relax, Princess.” Oliver rolled his eyes. “It was only a joke.” Diana responded with a sharp look.

“Look,” Wally whispered, and everyone all looked in different directions. “Towards Luthor’s table. He’s watching us.”

“Let him watch,” Shayera shrugged. “It’s his waste of time.

“I wouldn’t call looking at me a waste of time,” Oliver joked.

Dinah rolled her eyes. “Only dating you.” She shot back. Wally laughed loudly, and stuck out his hand to high-five her. Bruce had fallen silent and was eating his food, merely observing everyone else. This was how he was most comfortable.

“Should I be jealous?” Clark joked. He mock pouted. “I used to be his least favorite but now it seems like he hates Bruce the most.”

Bruce felt his curiosity pique, which was what pulled him out of his chosen silence. “Why does he hate you?” he questioned.

“Big strong guy who can’t be bought,” Clark said simply. He shrugged but there was something else in his eyes. It was obvious whatever hate Lex felt towards Clark was pretty much mutual.

“Clark’s too good and clean for Lex,” Diana explained. “A lot of the guys surrounding him are his muscle. Clark has a lot of muscle. But he has even more good...inside.”

“I won’t be controlled by him,” Clark’s hands were in fists. “Or by anyone. No matter how much money and power they have. That’s the same reason Lois once told people she turned down a date with him.” His hands unclenched and there was that look in his eye again. “Said she couldn’t be controlled.” Bruce vaguely wondered if Clark had ever asked Lois out.

Diana had a knowing smile on her face, while everyone else at the lunch table rolled their eyes as Clark continued to stare into space.

Bruce found the whole scene rather…awkward, but Diana seemed to find a way to change the subject.

“So, when are we having the next movie night?” she asked casually, and Clark broke out of his trance.

Oliver groaned. “Don’t tell me it’s another Disney marathon.” His head was pillowed in his hands.

“I enjoyed that.” Wally crossed his arms defensively.

“I did, too!” Clark nodded. Oliver lifted his head and his gaze leveled with him.

“Of course you did,” he said dryly, and Clark frowned.

“Maybe we should do Lord of the Rings this time,” Wally suggested, and a few people at the table enthusiastically nodded, while some shrugged.

“First thing first,” Diana announced, and all eyes were now on her. Bruce kept silent. He assumed this whole announcement didn’t involve him. It seemed like something they did as friends and not something on which he should intrude. “We need a date and a place to hold it at.”

“Not my place again.” Oliver held up his hands. “Not after what happened last time.”

Everyone at the table except Bruce groaned or looked guilty. Bruce just focused on his food. He was listening, but felt no use in paying too close of attention.

“It can’t be at my place, either.” Diana informed them. She bit her lip and Bruce briefly wondered why, exactly, that it couldn’t be.

“It can’t be my place.” Wally seemed to be in thought before he broke out into a smile, which is when Bruce felt a set of eyes on him. “Hey, Bruce! How about your place?” Then everyone’s eyes were on him, and Bruce felt stunned for a minute. Since when was he even invited?! But he had quickly checked himself into his neutral reaction of merely looking up and looking at Wally, silently inquiring. 

“You must have a pretty big place. A TV. A DVD player? Places to sit? Food?” Wally questioned. There was emphasis on the last part. Bruce did have all of those things.

“Come on, Bruce,” Oliver cut in. “You have that big place all to yourself! Share a little!” Everyone at the table nodded in agreement.

Bruce considered that for a moment. It would have included everyone who was at that table coming to the manor, eating his food and watching movies for what was most likely hours. Possibly causing a mess. The idea was…foreign to him. This was something with which he had never dealt, and nothing he had ever thought with which he would have to deal. As he had told Wally, he never had close friends... except Tommy, when he was little…but they had drifted apart.

Bruce considered just saying no, that it was out of the question and leave it at that, but he remembered Wally’s promise earlier and Alfred’s words. He felt that even if it was something weird and foreign…a little part of him who never really came out wanted him to say yes; to go for it and give it a try. So he did something he rarely ever did. He spoke, just on impulse. “Sure. I’d have to check with Alfred and I’d need a date.”

Everyone at the table smiled at him and then the banter started on what dates would work. They all had to work around their after school activities. Bruce was even asked about his own schedule, which could get complicated depending on certain dates. After a while of discussion, a date and time was set that worked out for all of them. Bruce just hoped it worked for Alfred as well...though he was pretty sure the man might faint if he heard that Bruce was actually planning to invite guests over. A few people at the table inquired about Alfred, and his role in Bruce's life. Wally happily explained that he was Bruce’s butler, and everyone except Oliver, Clark and Diana seemed surprised by that.

As lunch neared an end, Bruce became hyperaware again. He became aware of just how much a set of eyes were staring into the back of his head. When he turned to look he made direct eye contact with Luthor. The locked gazes for a few moments...each wondering who would turn away first. Clark gripped his shoulder and Bruce looked at him in surprise, right before lunch ended.  Then, it was a rush to the next class.

~.~.~.~.~.~.

US History class was even worse than the day before. Everyone’s eyes seemed to be glued on him and the teacher seemed to dislike him even more than he had the day before. On top of that, Luthor just stared at him the whole time. Bruce was positive he was trying to drive him insane. Diana had the same class as him and muttered under her breath something about Luthor being so childish. The teacher was also rather rude to her, as well. Diana, however, handled herself perfectly. As always. She had a way about her that made Bruce wonder how anyone could ever dislike someone like her. He could tell just by the way she held herself, and the way she acted, that she was strong willed, yet also had a way of kindness about her. Diana possessed both determination and stubbornness, and a kind heart. A combination that Bruce had to admire.

“I heard Wayne went crazy in gym,” whispered a kid sitting behind him. He most likely thought he was being discreet...despite the fact he had a shrill voice and didn’t seem to know how to whisper correctly.

“I heard he threatened to kill the teacher,” the other kid muttered back. He wasn’t much better.

Bruce rolled his eyes and huffed. This was ridiculous.

“Mr. Wayne, are, um, we having a problem today?” the teacher asked, and Bruce blinked, the only sign of his surprise. All eyes were for sure on him now. As if they weren’t already.

“No, sir,” Bruce responded politely. The teacher eyed him with disbelief.

“Then may, um, I ask why you seemed to be rolling your eyes when I was talking?” The teacher, Mr. Franklin, inquired. His eyes held resentment towards Bruce for reasons unknown. His anger and the heat behind the words spoken to Bruce were diminished by his overall bumbling appearance and way of speech. The man was constantly made fun of out of the class for being a rather incompetent teacher.

“I don’t recall doing that on purpose.” Bruce shrugged casually. Mr. Franklin narrowed his eyes.

“Wayne, if you have an, um, problem with how I run my class than I would prefer you either exit the room or keep your expressions to your…well…to yourself,” Mr. Franklin stated, and many in the class looked at Bruce, probably wondering if he was going to “flip out" again.

“Well, sir, I can’t keep my facial expressions solely to myself. Especially since even my basic facial functions would most likely be considered a facial expression. Even if I didn’t really move it much at all. But I don’t truly think leaving the class would be to the benefit of either of us, nor do I think it’s necessary. But I will sit here quietly and try to be more aware of what motions my eyes make, if that is what will make you happiest.” The teacher’s face reddened the more Bruce spoke and Diana had hid her mouth in her hand.

“I don’t think I like your attitude, Wayne,” Mr. Franklin stated, and Bruce resisted the urge to groan.

“Then I’ll try to keep that under control as well, ” he replied back simply.

 “Sir?” The voice of Lex Luthor spoke up and now everyone was interested. “I really do hate to interrupt this, but may I recommend just ignoring Mr. Wayne here and going on with your lesson?” Bruce kept his face impassive and merely shrugged after Lex’s remark. Mr. Franklin nodded at Lex, all the same.

 “Thank you um very much, Luthor.  I’m glad to see someone is interested in the lesson.” Mr. Franklin continued his lesson and Bruce tried to keep himself from rolling his eyes again at Lex’s “innocent” remark. He was reminded with what Alfred told him as a child:

“If you roll them too many times, they will get stuck that way.”

~.~.~.~.~.

“You know,” Diana told him after class was over. “Every teacher in school is going to hate you.” She said this with amusement, though.

“I’ll live.” Bruce replied simply.

“Yeah, but your grades won’t.”

~.~.~.~.~.

Bruce was only mildly surprised when Gym time rolled around and Clark once again found him at his locker and walked with him.

“I know where the gym is now, Clark. I won’t get lost.” Bruce looked at him suspiciously. Clark merely kept walking and shrugged.

“Maybe I just like the company,” he replied back, unperturbed.

“Wally and Diana have the same class, and Wally goes into the same locker room,” Bruce muttered. He had planned to go change in the bathroom again. He hoped it was empty like it was the first time. 

“You know, Bruce, if you keep this up I’ll begin to think you don’t like me.” Clark mock pouted and Bruce actually snorted.

“Oh, and I just couldn’t bear to hurt your feelings,” he replied sarcastically. Clark smiled.

“Exactly, which is why we’re still walking together,” Clark told him, and Bruce spotted the same bathroom he used previously. He slowed his steps and hoped Clark got the picture. He did. He came to a stop right outside the door.

“I need to use the bathroom,” Bruce explained, and Clark merely leaned on the wall next to the door and gestured for him to go inside...which Bruce did. He looked underneath the stalls and was satisfied to see it was as empty as it was the first time. He changed in the same exact stall, as well. He changed even faster. This time he was less concerned with what Clark would have to say when he left. If Clark had really wanted to say something about it, he probably already would have. Not that he would tell Clark anything. What he did and his reasons for doing it were none of Clark’s business. They weren’t anyone’s business. He had his own reasons, and in his mind they were extremely valid ones.

When he exited the bathroom, Clark was still leaning on the wall next to the bathroom door. He eyed him curiously. Bruce merely said, “Let’s go.  We’ll be late if we just stand around here.” He then took off, walking  faster than necessary.

Clark was still eyeing him, but he didn’t ask. He simply continued to talk about his classes as if nothing had happened before he went into the locker room, with Bruce once again heading directly into the gym. They were most likely going to play something completely different that day, Bruce assumed. He felt a bit of dread come at finding out what it was going to be. Especially since his gym teacher was none too fond of him.

This should be fun, he thought.

~.~.~.~.~.

He wasn’t just not fond of him. He hated him. Bruce was the only kid in the gym when he arrived, and the gym teacher, Mr. Hopkins, was looking at him as if he was Satan, himself. Bruce simply just stood there with his arms to his side and tried to focus his attention on anywhere other than the beady eyes staring straight at him. He’d had enough of that for one day.

Wally was the second out and clapped Bruce on the shoulder. Mr. Hopkins finally looked away and Wally whispered in his ear, “He try to kill you yet?”

“Not yet,” Bruce responded. He finally eyed Mr. Hopkins and his tense posture and set jaw. The man was furious.

Not yet.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

Once a head count was complete, Mr. Hopkins explained they were going to play basketball inside that day since the weather was still rather rainy. The sky was overcast, with light showers popping up every so often. The sun never quite broke through to put an end to it. To top it off, the whole field was covered in a fog.

Once again they were split up into teams. It went smoother than dodgeball did. For the most part, anyway. Bruce had rarely played basketball. He was lucky his precision was what it was and that he was athletic. He would have done rather well. But, Mr. Hopkins kept blowing his whistle and yelling about how Bruce did something that broke the rules. Bruce was pretty sure all these “rules” the teacher kept yelling about were all made up...especially since it seemed the whistle was blown every time he moved or got close to the basket. Everyone on his team tried to argue, but the whistle was blown again and silence was demanded. Luthor who was on the other team seemed thrilled with this and kept sending smug smiles Bruce’s way. Bruce was tempted to bash him over the head with the basketball like he had done with the dodgeball, but he made sure to keep his temper under control. This was much to the disappointment of other students who eagerly anticipated a new rumor to spread around school.

Bruce wasn’t the only one from his team who was targeted. It seemed as if the other players from his team were accused a few times of “foul play”. While people from Luthor’s team were pretty much golden. The score was still close, but it was made sure that Luthor’s team came out on top, which had nearly everyone on Bruce’s team seething.

“I wish they made us run,” Wally whispered to Bruce. “The only time they accused me of cheating when we ran is when someone fell and claimed I tripped them. Usually, though, I’m so far ahead no one can even claim it.” Wally had his arms crossed over his chest. His bottom lip was over his top one in a way that surely made him look like he was pouting.

“Hey,” Bruce suddenly whispered as a thought struck him. “I never asked, who won the dodgeball game?”

Wally gave him a “are you serious” look. “You’re a smart guy, Bruce. Who do you think won?”

“Thought so.” Bruce huffed and walked into the corner of the room where he had thrown his gym bag. He planned to walk back to the bathroom and try to change in the stall again.

“Why’s your gym bag in here?” Wally asked.

Bruce didn’t respond and just exited the gym room before he made his way to the bathroom. He felt a bit frustrated. The sound of the whistle continued to echo through his head with every step he took. When he got home he was going to have to ask Alfred for an aspirin.

There was still a remaining five minutes or so before the other classes were over, and Bruce was mainly focusing on his negative thoughts about Lex as he walked down the hall. So much so that he never had time to see, or sense, the object that was thrown and made contact with his back, and immediately had him falling to the ground. He was able to catch himself on his hands, to keep his face from smacking against the ground. Bruce groaned and looked at the object which made a small bounce before rolling down the hall in front of him. He blinked in surprise, a basketball…?

Before he had time to react he was yanked to his feet by the back of his gym shirt. He was fully prepared for a fight before he was pushed into the bathroom he was about to enter. He was shoved to one side of it, almost colliding with the wall, and quickly turned around with his fists up to be met with the sight of Luthor, still in gym clothes, and his two goonies.

“Now, now, Brucie.” Luthor’s eyes were dark and had an odd type of amusement shimmering in them. “No need for fists in this conversation. I just wanted to chat a little bit. Just you and me.”

“Just you and me, huh?” Bruce inquired sarcastically as he gestured to Luthor’s two sidekicks. Each crossed their arms over their chests before Luthor spoke to them;

“Go. Pick up the basketball and bring it back. If anyone heard, tell them we were just messing around after gym. Leave me and Brucie to chat in private.” Luthor’s smile was big and fake. The two goonies obeyed without question. They promptly left the bathroom. Luthor took a step closer to Bruce, who remained fist-ready to fight. He was prepared.

“Any chance you’d tell me what the hell is going on?” He snarled and Luthor was completely unperturbed. His grin only grew.

“Now Brucie, I feel we’ve gotten off to what I’d like to call a…rough start,” Lex explained. His voice sounded like a politician trying to sell America on all the wonders he can do for the country and its people. “I’ve said some things…you’ve done some things. Things have gotten rather, well, out of hand we could say. You must forgive me for my words at lunch yesterday.” Bruce raised an eyebrow. He had to be kidding. “But I just offered you quite the exclusive invitation and you turned me down for Kent and his group of losers.”

“So that’s what they are to you?” Bruce inquired. “Losers?”

“Let’s just say underachievers, then,” Lex corrected. His smile was still big and fake. “They’re not like us, Bruce.”

“Us?” Bruce questioned and shook his head in disbelief. “May I ask what makes you think you know anything about me?”

“Well let’s start out with the fact that I know why you got kicked out of your last school, along with the schools before.” Bruce had to tame his expression, so as not to show the shock he felt. Lex seemed, however, to scout out the slight crack in his mask, anyway. “Didn’t see that one coming, did you?” Lex walked even closer to Bruce. They were pretty much face to face. “Don’t act like you’re so good and clean, Bruce. We both know that you’re no saint. You’re just like-.”

“I’m nothing like you.” Bruce cut in, his voice was a snarl. Lex smiled anyway. “You don’t know. You don’t know why I-.”

“I’m sure there’s more to the story,” Lex cut him off now. “Two sides to every single one. Probably got treated unfairly, yes? They didn’t understand what had truly happened, yes?” Bruce narrowed his eyes and Lex chuckled lowly. “I’m here to give you a second chance on the invitation I tried putting out yesterday, Bruce. An honor that not many get.”

Bruce shook his head in disbelief. An honor. How full of himself was this guy? “Why do you need me, anyway? It seems like you’ve got enough people falling to your feet. Do you just want the whole school to bow down before you?”

“As I said before, I know the reason you were thrown out of your old schools. Knew it long before yesterday. First student to probably even know you were coming here. My mock surprise should have won me an Oscar. I’m not looking for just another bodyguard. I’m looking for what you could call a right hand man. I’ve got plans, Wayne. Big ones. You’re strong, and you’re obviously not dumb. You’re perfect for it.” Lex revealed and Bruce felt his blood boil. Lex honestly thought Bruce would just stand beside him. Work with him.

“Is this supposed to be some type of high honor?” Bruce knew his eyes reflected the fire he had felt inside.

“Well, actually, yes. I don’t give people many chances, Wayne. Take it or leave it,” Lex told him. “But I should warn you, if you decide to leave it…I know everything about you, Wayne. Everything.”

 “Write my biography, then. The answer between take it or leave it is leave it," Bruce spat and Luthor’s eyes went dark with rage. Any mask of the politician had vanished.

“Fool,” Lex spat back and stepped away from Bruce. His face was contorted and lit with fury. “You fool. You’ll regret this, Wayne. You’ll live to regret this.”

“Of all the moments I’ll one day look back on with remorse, Lex, I don’t see this as being one of them,” Bruce stated firmly. He kept eye contact with Lex as the man snarled one last time before his face contorted into a horrific, deadly smile.

“You just wait, Wayne. You just wait.” With that, Luthor walked out of the bathroom door and Bruce heard heavy footsteps stomp away. He sighed and leaned up against the bathroom wall as the bell sounded off.

Bruce continued to lean up against the wall as he thought to himself and finally chuckled ruefully. He had only been in the school for two days.

Talk about making an impression.


	4. Lunch Dates

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bruce gets invited to a friendly lunch, but can't shake the feeling of eyes on the back of his head.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm SO SORRY this took so long to update!!!! Hopefully the next chapter will be up soon! SO much stuff has been going on and it has been really hard to get this up :(

As Bruce was coming out of his second week of school, and on the weekend before his third, no big events really too place - at least none that were truly noteworthy. This surprised Bruce, to some extent. His classes hadn’t changed that much. The teachers weren’t too fond of him - except his science teacher, who had taken a liking to him. Gym was the worst and US History was a close second. He had felt eyes almost constantly on the back of his head for those two weeks - except during the weekend, of course.

Wally was extremely passionate about getting Bruce involved more in his and his friends’ activities. He invited Bruce to go to a diner with some of them after school. Much of the time, Bruce would just make excuses why he could not - although, he did keep his word and ask Alfred about the movie night. He actually made this request after he had come home from his confrontation with Luthor.

_“Alfred,” Bruce started. “I have something to ask you about.”_

_"Yes, Master Bruce?” Alfred responded. He was preparing supper, but Bruce knew he was listening._

_“Those kids from school, the ones who I sit with at lunch, they have an annual movie night thing.” Bruce fidgeted a bit. He had no idea what Alfred’s reaction would be, and the concept of asking to have someone over was a foreign one to him. “There was no other place to host it so…they asked if I could have it here.” He ducked his head just as Alfred’s shot up to look at him with a brief surprise that quickly turned into a slight smile._

_Alfred cleared his throat and tried to gather his wits. His eyes shone, and if Bruce had been looking up he would have seen happiness reflected within them. “Well, sir, I would need the dates, and estimated times of arrival and departure.”_

_“They all have fairly busy schedules,” Bruce informed him. “As do I. But we all found a date that we think will work for all of our scheduled. The Saturday after next.” Bruce looked up slightly and saw Alfred consider it for a moment. He had no idea if he wanted the man to agree to it or say it wasn’t doable. An odd part of Bruce wanted it to happen…the other part of him felt a strange amount of nervous energy, which was strange for him, considering he never considered himself a anxious type of person. It seemed, however, that this school year held for him many new changes and challenges. Ones he wasn’t accustomed to handling._

_“I do believe that will work out just fine, Master Bruce,” Alfred confirmed. One part of Bruce felt relieved and the other part felt his nervousness worsen, which, in turn, made him feel oddly jittery. He did not show this outwardly, of course. “Just fine indeed. I will mark it down on the calendar. Now, for how long do you think they shall be here?”_

_“They were talking about watching all of the 'Lord of the Rings' movies. Diana said something about all of us meeting here around noon?” Bruce recalled the conversation. He had never watched the "Lord of the Rings" movies before._

_“Hm, I recall hearing they’re quite long, so I’ll make adequate snacks for the occasion. I would also be more than pleased to prepare dinner for your friends, if you feel they might be interested in dining here, with you..” Alfred raised an inquiring eyebrow towards Bruce._

_“I’ll ask them if they’d like to.” Bruce promised._

He did, too. The next day. He told them that Alfred had said it was fine and asked if they’d be able to stay for dinner. Most said they’d have to ask their parents first - except for Wally, who asked what it was that Alfred might cook, and if he was good at it. This then, somehow, lead to Clark and Bruce having a lighthearted argument on who would win in a cook-off: Alfred vs. Clark’s Mother. Wally offered to be the judge.

In the two weeks that had passed, Gym had remained Bruce’s least favorite class. US History was a close second. The only class he really enjoyed was Science, and it was mainly because they had a fantastic teacher, who actually seemed to appreciate Bruce and ask for his input a lot. The teacher was obviously very bright, but he also took the time to explain thoroughly to students who were having trouble, and even asked Bruce if he’d ever considered tutoring. He seemed like he genuinely cared about the students in the class and wanted everyone to succeed, which Bruce could appreciate.

 Dinah had complained to him that he was lucky he wasn’t taking psychology with Diana and her, because their teacher was a “Nutcase.” Others seemed to like him, but Dinah said she knew crazy when she saw it. That Mr. Strange was for sure crazy. Bruce merely shrugged. He’d seen the teacher in the hall and he did always seem to be on edge, but he didn’t really know him well enough to make a judgment on him.

 Bruce had classes with Lex, and passed him in the hall and saw him at lunch. But as stated earlier, nothing had really happened other than intense staring. Lots of intense staring. Bruce still felt on edge and a bit paranoid after his last conversation with Lex, but part of him wondered as the weeks passed if Lex had been bluffing. Bruce knew it was highly unlikely that Lex had been bluffing about knowing what had…gone on at his old schools. However,  he couldn't help but consider the threat of his knowing “everything”…after all, what did "everything" mean? Bruce had felt Lex’s eyes on him constantly, and couldn’t help the feeling that whatever Lex had threatened, he planned on going through with it.

 Wally didn’t leave Bruce alone in his two weeks of school. Bruce wondered if he’d slowly drift away from their group of friends, but Wally made it impossible. He always seemed to be there whenever Bruce turned around to throw an arm over his shoulder and ask him how his class went. In fact, they all seemed willing to include Bruce in everything they did. Bruce just didn’t really know what to do with himself. He’d never been in a big group of friends and he’d never really planned to be in one. He really did try to pull away a few times, to gain some distance and some alone time -  which he had grown accustomed to. But it didn’t seem to stop any of them. If anything, Bruce had almost started to grow used to the constant chatter that surrounded him at lunch, as the group would bicker and joke about the stupidest of things.

All that considered, Bruce shouldn’t have been nearly as surprised as he was when Alfred informed him he had a phone call from a Clark Kent, around noon on a Saturday. Alfred had a small smirk on his face as Bruce took the phone with obvious caution. He slowly raised it to his ear before he spoke.

 “Um…hello?” He greeted…or at least tried. Alfred’s lips curled into a slight smile again as he nodded towards Bruce and took his leave from the room.

 “Hey!” Clark returned the greeting with much more energy than Bruce mustered up. “I was just wondering if you have any plans?” Clark’s voice sounded rather mellow, but there was an underlying hint of something Bruce couldn’t exactly make out.

 “I…um,” Bruce was caught off guard and his brain was working a million miles a minutes. “Why?” he inquired, and mentally groaned. Tt wasn’t like he could just answer the question without knowing the intentions behind it.

 “Well, Diana and I are going to this awesome diner that we go to sometimes to hang out. Most of the rest of the group is busy. We both wanted to know if you weren’t up to anything if you’d want to join us?” Clark asked.

 Bruce pondered for a moment. He wouldn’t have called himself…close to either Clark or Diana, but of course, he didn’t really consider himself close to anybody…other than Alfred, maybe. He also wondered if he did go with them if he’d be a third wheel. After all, those two had known each other for much longer and they were much closer. He considered that they might have only been inviting him in an attempt to be polite. Maybe they were even hoping he’d turn down their ivitation. At that moment he had decided it would be the best course of action to do just that. It’d be just awkward to go out to eat with them. It wouldn’t be like lunch at school. There weren’t other people to distract from Bruce just sitting there listening.

 “Okay. What’s the address?” His brain wasn’t connected to his mouth that day. Or perhaps it was on a level he didn’t understand.

 “I can pick you up!” Clark’s voice sounded bright and a happy kind of surprised. “Well, my Ma and Pa can. They’re going to do some shopping and are dropping me off at the diner. Diana gets her own ride. She’s usually there first. What’s your address?”

 Bruce suddenly felt a wave of regret wash over him. He decided he had to try to back out. He had considered telling Clark that he had made a big mistake and that he had forgotten about an event. “I can have Alfred drive me. It’s no trouble.” Damnit.

 

Clark had agreed, without any further argument, to Bruce’s statement. He gave Bruce the name and address of the diner. He only told him that if Alfred was too busy, he should call him back right away and he’d give him a ride. He then informed him they were meeting there in about forty minutes.

 Much like when he brought up the movie night, when Bruce asked him for a ride to the diner, Alfred’s face flickered with surprise and then looked oddly pleased.

 This, of course, didn’t help to settle Bruce’s nerves.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

Bruce arrived at the diner five minutes early. He waited in the car for a good two minutes before Alfred cleared his throat. “Master Bruce,” Alfred started. “I do believe we’re here, sir.”

 “Yes, Alfred.” Bruce nodded. “I just don’t want to seem too early.”

 Alfred huffed and shook his head a bit. He then spoke again, “Sir, they may possibly already be inside. Didn’t you say Ms. Diana shows up early?” Bruce grimaced. He shouldn’t have told Alfred that fact.

 “Maybe this is a bad idea,” he announced, and Alfred shook his head again. “They invited me to this just to be polite. I shouldn’t have agreed. I’m intruding.” He said this forcefully. He didn’t understand why he felt anxious. He wasn’t a nervous type of person. He was usually calm and collected about everything. Whether it be facing Luthor, teachers, or business men who were jealous of his fortune, Bruce was always calm and collected. Now, he was faced with a social situation and it was what was making him sweat.

 “Well, these people must be very polite, then, considering they seem to be trying to include you in various activities as of late. Have you ever entertained the possibility that perhaps they invite you because they like you?” Alfred’s voice held no venom, nor was it mocking.  It was calm and explanatory.

 Bruce sighed and looked at his tinted window. He was so deep in thought he didn’t even register Alfred’s movement until his door was opened, which led to him unbuckling almost sheepishly and gathering his wits. He was almost never invited to social events. The only “social” events he attended were ones that had more to do with business than anything. He didn’t particularly enjoy those; the pressure he felt in taking over Wayne Enterprises was strong. But with business, he knew more of what to expect. He knew about business. He knew how to handle those types of things. Now these types of things? He wasn’t used to. He wasn’t used to having people invite him places simply because they, as Alfred said, liked him. Why would they even like him? They didn’t even know him well. It wasn’t like Bruce was super open and talkative.

 “Master Bruce.” Alfred broke off his train of thought and Bruce looked even more sheepish as he stepped out of the car and gave Alfred a small nod. “Shall I return in an hour or so, sir?” he asked.

 Bruce nodded. “I’ll call you if I need to be picked up sooner,” he told Alfred, as the man closed the door, and Bruce eyed the entrance to the diner.

 “Very well, sir. If you’re still inside when I arrive, just take your time,” Alfred told him. The older man’s eyes shone a bit, and Bruce looked away as Alfred got back into the car. “See you in an hour, sir.”

 “See you then,” Bruce confirmed, as he walked towards the entrance of the diner.  He peered through the window before he actually stepped inside.  Once past the entrance, he was immediately met with a perky waitress who had long blonde hair that fell in curly locks down her back. Her teeth were bright and white and her smile practically lit up the entire room. She seemed to think he wasn’t too bad looking, himself. At least that’s what he assumed when he saw her eyes scan him up and down with obvious interest.

 “Lunch for one?” she asked, her blue eyes sparkling.

“I’m actually meeting with some-.” He was cut off by Diana, who apparently was always early, and who had also, somehow, walked up without either of them seeing her. She was pretty impressive.

 “He’s with us,” she explained politely, and smiled at Bruce. Bruce looked across the diner to see Clark, who must have also be inclined to show up a bit early, waving at him from the booth. Bruce lifted his hand slightly in what he hoped passed as a wave back.

 The waitress looked between Bruce and Diana with a look of minor disappointment. But then she recovered, smiled and nodded. “Have a good lunch!” Her voice was peppy as before. Bruce wondered how someone could sound so peppy all the time. He guessed it was probably mainly for show.

 Bruce and Diana nodded and Diana led him to the booth Clark at which Clark was already seated. There were three menus already on the table, and Bruce sat next to Clark, who had a spare menu at his side that looked unclaimed. The booth made a loud creaking noise when he sat down and was insanely fluffy. He practically sank in it.

 “Hey!” Clark greeted and smiled at Bruce. “Glad you could make it!”

 Bruce merely nodded at him before he glanced around the diner. He took in his surroundings. It was pretty nice. Clean. Old fashioned looking. It wasn’t filled, at all, and the clientele seemed to be older couples - outside of the waitress who was still looking at him from the front of the diner. “Nice place.” He commented.

 “It’s very nice,” Diana agreed. “Clark and I found it awhile back and immediately fell in love with it. The food is really great! They have a nice menu.” She gestured to the menu in front of her for extra effect.

 “Best milkshakes,” Clark continued after Diana. He almost seemed excited. “They also have fantastic apple pie.” He seemed genuinely excited over that last part. Something Bruce had learned about Clark since attending school was the kid really liked pie. 

 

“Clark.” Diana looked amused. “I thought we were getting lunch. Not dessert.” Clark shrugged sheepishly.

 Bruce scanned the menu as his companions did the same. It was a pretty good menu. They had a wide variety of different foods, sides, and drinks. He looked for something relatively healthy.

 Clark was the first to shut his menu. “See anything you like?” he asked Bruce. He was most likely trying to make small talk - something that had never quite been Bruce’s strong suit. He merely hummed in response - for which Alfred would probably frowned upon him.

 The trio sat in awkward silence for a few moments before their waitress showed up. She was years…or more accurately decades, ahead of the blonde and smiled at both Clark and Diana before she spoke, “Well hello you two! Good to see you’re in again,” She was a kind looking woman, with graying hair that was cut slightly above her chin and curled up. She wore thick rimmed glasses and had very thin lips, but her smile is what transformed her face and possibly even took off a few years. Bruce wondered if the diner held a smiling test before they hired their staff. If so, he noted to never apply there if he ever lost his fortune.

 Diana and Clark returned the smile fully and Clark replied, “It’s nice to see you, too, Janet! How have you been? How’s business?” They must come in a lot, Bruce realized. First name basis. Or maybe it was just the fact that Clark was a very friendly person?

 “I’ve been just fine, Clark. Jjust fine indeed. Business may not be booming but it’s staying afloat, I’m glad to say.” She then took notice of Bruce and spoke again, “Now, don’t believe I’ve seen you before, young man.”

 “This is Bruce,” Diana explained. “He goes to our school. Lived here for a while but just switched schools. Bruce, this is Janet. She’s worked here ever since we’ve started coming.”

 Bruce nodded towards Janet. “Nice to meet you,” he said politely.

 “Likewise!” Janet nodded at him. “Nice to see new faces around here. Always welcome. Always welcome, indeed. So, Bruce, what can I get ya? Should we start out with a drink?” She was very personable, though her voice was exceptionally loud. Bruce assumed everyone in the diner that day must have been regulars, because they took no notice of it.

 “Just some ice water, please,” Bruce ordered, and to his surprise Janet shook her head firmly, as if she was completely and utterly opposed to the idea.

 “You’ve never eaten here before and all you want is a cup of water? Now, Bruce, I don’t think you’re going to the full experience here.” Janet critiqued and Bruce merely blinked. She looked completely serious, which is what truly threw him off.

“Allow me to correct him, Janet.” Clark sounded highly amused, and Bruce half glared at him. Clark was as unperturbed as ever. “How about one of your famous milkshakes? Bruce, do you like chocolate or vanilla?”

“I don’t think a milkshake would be the best idea-.”

“Chocolate it is!” Clark announced, as he cut Bruce off. Bruce’s glare intensified as Janet scribbled it down on her little pad. “On top of that, I’ll take what he’s having.” Clark continued. “Both larges.”

 “Now that’s how we do it around here!” Janet announced and looked totally satisfied. Then she directed her attention to Diana, “For you, miss?” Diana was shaking her head as she looked at Bruce and Clark.

 “I’ll take a Shirley Temple.” She ordered with a smirk. Janet nodded in satisfaction as she scribbled it down on her pad.

 “Coming right up!” She announced and smiled right at Bruce, who was still trying to burn a hole through Clark’s head with his eyes. “Don’t worry, hon, you’ll love it.” She gave his shoulder a pat and walked away.

 “See? You’ll love it!” Clark tried. Bruce just continued glaring. “Oh come on. Don’t be like that. You’ll thank me after you get a taste of it.” Bruce’s glare intensified. He felt his annoyance grow when Clark seemed more amused than anything.

 “I can order for myself,” he stated sullenly. He tore his eyes away from Clark to peer across the diner and study a random elderly couple. The wife seemed to be frustrated, judging by her body language, anyway.

 “A glass of water? With all the choices on that menu and you picked a glass of water.” Clark rolled his eyes.

 “Water is hydrating and good for you.” Bruce stated firmly as he crossed his arms over his chest. He didn’t even spare Clark another glance.

“Milkshakes have protein.” Clark pointed out.

 “Fine, let’s compare the fat content in a milkshake to the fat content in a glass of water.” Bruce’s voice was highly sarcastic and Clark simply huffed as Diana continued her attempt not to smile.

 “What? It’s not like you’re on a diet.” Clark complained and then froze when Bruce turned to him to raise an eyebrow. “You’re on a diet?!” Clark cried out that last part and even some of the people in were looking at him. He could hear Janet snort.

 “No. But I like to maintain a healthy lifestyle,” Bruce informed him primly.

 “Oh, well, excuse me for bringing a milkshake into your healthy lifestyle. Live a little.” Clark still seemed more amused than anything.

 “Okay, you two, that’s enough bickering,” Diana chided. An obvious smirk was then on her face and she threw her dark hair over her shoulder as she shook her head in exasperation. It was as if she was dealing with two children.

 “Fine,” Clark sighed, but the side of his mouth was tugging into what looked like the beginning of a grin. “I’m so sorry I ordered for you.” His voice had obvious sarcasm.

 “Should be,” Bruce stated with a stoic face. Clark threw his hands in the air in exasperation and Bruce fought back the urge to laugh.

 “Moving on,” Diana changed the topic. “I really am glad you could make it today, Bruce. We don’t really get to see much of you outside of school.” She seemed pretty earnest about that.

 “I can be pretty busy,” Bruce said. He eyed around the room. It was true.

 “Doing what?” Clark asked and Bruce felt minor surprise hit him at the question.

 “Pardon?” he inquired.

 “What do you do in your spare time?” Clark clarified. Bruce paused for a moment; it was a pretty innocent question.

 “I do a lot of…studying.” he answered slowly, not sure exactly how to answer the question.

 “That’s all? You just sit home and study?” Clark’s voice remained totally innocent. It didn’t seem as if he was mocking him or being snarky. He just seemed curious. Maybe even a bit confused.

 “I study different things…” Bruce looked around the diner. He tried to think of a way to describe it. “I study things outside of just school projects. It’s just something I…like to do. I also do martial arts, which is part of what I study.” he explained to them, and then saw Janet picking up all their drinks to bring to them.

 “That’s pretty cool. What do you enjoy studying the most?” Clark asked him and Bruce took a moment to try to think of an answer to that. What did he enjoy studying the most?

 He opened his mouth to reply, but that’s when Janet put a big glass filled with a chocolate milkshake in front of him, complete with a straw and a spoon. “They’re thick,” She explained. “Some say that have to eat them with a spoon.”

“I am one of those people!” Clark stated, as she slid his milkshake towards him.  He immediately grabbed his spoon, looking like a little kid in a candy store.

 Janet then slid over Diana’s Shirley Temple, which had a little cherry floating on top. “Thank you!” Diana said with a smile. She immediately took a sip out of the straw.

 “Not a problem, kids! Not a problem at all! Are you ready to order or do you need a few more minutes?” Janet inquired. She already had her pad out and her pen at the ready. She also made a fighting stance that Bruce assumed was mainly done for laughs.

 “I think we’re ready…” Diana looked at Bruce and Clark, whom the latter was already scooping up his milkshake, for confirmation. They both nodded.

 “Alrighty then,” Janet sounded pleased and then turned her attention to Bruce. “What can I get you today, stranger?”

 “I’ll have your turkey burger with lettuce and tomato only, no fries.  For sides I’ll just have um…broccoli and coleslaw.” He ordered. Janet eyed him for a minute and he was momentarily worried she was going to encourage Clark to order for him again. But she simply shrugged and wrote down his order.

 “Kids today,” she started as she shook her head. “I swear, when I was your age I was wolfing down whole pizzas with a side of fries and deep fried ice cream.” She merely shrugged again before she looked at Clark. Her pen was ready again.

 Clark and Diana both ordered. Clark ordered a burger with everything on it, which seemed to sincerely satisfy Janet, while Diana ordered a Greek Salad.

 “I’ll have that ready in a heartbeat, kiddos!” she promised, and they all thanked her as she walked away.

 “Well.” Bruce swirled the straw around in his milkshake. “She’s got spunk. I’ll give her that.”

 “Janet’s great.” Clark nodded, as he sent his scoop digging into his milkshake again. “She’s always been really good to us.”

 “How long have you two been coming here?” Bruce inquired.

 “The others were busy one day,” Diana told him as she took a sip of her Shirley Temple. “We didn’t know what to do, so we went for a walk and almost passed by this place. Neither of us had heard of it and we were starving, so we gave it a try. The food here is out of this world and the people who work here are exceptionally friendly. You don’t find that at too many places anymore.” She seemed saddened by that last part.

 “I’m inclined to agree,” Bruce told her. He still hadn’t even attempted sipping the milkshake. The thing was ginormous. “The people here do seem rather friendly.”

 “Where’s your favorite place to eat?” Clark asked him. A piece of his hair had fallen in his face and it was making a weird curl right over his forehead.

 “At home,” Bruce answered bluntly, and Clark actually laughed.

 “Same here!” He chuckled. “My Ma makes the best pot-roast. Out of this world. You should come by sometime. She loves company, especially when Wally comes over. He eats everything on the table and still has room for dessert.”

 “Why doesn’t that surprise me?” Bruce shook his head as he remembered Wally the day before trying to get him to give him what was left of his lunch because he was apparently “starving."

 “So, Bruce,” Diana cut in. She had her arms folded in front of her and leaned into the table a bit more. “I actually have something to ask you about.” Her eyes were rather serious and her manner seemed to change a bit.

 “Yes?” Bruce’s eyebrows had knit together. He wasn’t sure where it was going…

 “On your first day of school you mentioned something about how I should put a petition together for the girls wrestling team,” She reminded him, and Bruce nodded to show her he remembered. “Well, I’ve actually been thinking over the idea and I think it would be the best way to go. The school won’t listen to me when I try to speak to them myself, but as you pointed out, they might listen if I got something more formal with actual signatures on it to show that I’m not alone in this.”

 “I think that’s a good route to take.” Bruce nodded. “But what is it you want to ask me about?”

 “I wanted to know, since it was your idea, if you’d be interested in helping me put the petition together?” Diana asked. She took another sip of her drink and then folded her arms again - not in a way that was intimidating, though. “You seem to know a lot about that stuff.” It came out sounding like a compliment.

 Bruce pondered that for a moment. This was much more in his element than the other things those in the group had asked him to do with them. He could probably handle this. “I do know quite a bit, yes. When would you be putting this together?” he inquired. Diana smiled a bit at his reply.

 “I was thinking we could discuss it a bit more on Monday, perhaps during free period? It could take a little bit of time to put the full thing together. But I think we can get it done with rather quickly. We could discuss more of a time frame around then,” she said, and Bruce nodded.

 “I’ll sign it!” Clark announced. He was still scooping his milkshake into his mouth and had a bit on the side of his mouth.

 “I know you will, Clark.” Diana smiled at him.

 “I could get most of the football team to sign it, too,” Clark said, nodding at her. “I think a lot of them would. I’m pretty sure a lot of people overall would. Though, wouldn’t count on Luthor or his group's support.” Clark rolled his eyes and Bruce wondered how Luthor always seemed to be brought up in their conversations. Clark really seemed to hate the guy - not that Bruce could blame him. It was just difficult to picture someone as good natured as Clark hating anybody.

 “I wouldn’t want his signature,” Diana stated firmly. Her eyes showed it was the honest truth. Clark smiled again at that remark.

 “He seems to be keeping to himself lately, though.” Clark’s brow furrowed. “Which is…not like him.”

 “Maybe he’s finally grown up,” Diana suggested, and Clark gave her a look that clearly read “yeah right."

 “I feel like he’s up to something.” Clark sighed and then took another scoopful before he looked directly at Bruce who was still swirling.

 “Hey.” He whacked Bruce lightly on the arm, which earned him another glare. “Drink up. It’s good.”

 Bruce rolled his eyes and finally lifted his spoon and gathered some of the chocolate milkshake and brought it to his lips. He felt ridiculously awkward since Diana and Clark were both watching him. But he had to admit, as soon as it hit his taste buds that it was really delicious. He tried to make his expression indifferent, but judging by the smirks that had appeared on both of their faces, he must not have done the best job. “It’s good,” he stated simply.

 “Mhm,” Clark took another spoonful of his own. “Just good.” Bruce rolled his eyes and slowly took another spoonful.

 “So, Bruce,” Diana started again and Bruce nodded. “You’ve been going to school for two weeks now, correct?”

“Yes,” he responded. He took yet another spoonful and ignored Clark’s smug smile.

 “What do you think of it all thus far?” she questioned. Clark looked at him curiously, as well.

 “It’s…alright.” Bruce didn’t truly know what to say, so he focused his eyes on his milkshake. “My favorite class is science.” He hoped that was enough information.

 “My guess is it’s a lot different than the other schools you’ve gone to?” Apparently that wasn’t enough information. At least not for Clark. But he didn’t seem to be trying to pry.

 “It’s…yes…it’s quite different. No uniforms.” Bruce really hated small talk. He’d never quite learned how to do it properly.

 “Well, for only two weeks of being there, you’ve sure caused a lot of commotion.” Clark chuckled, and his little curl that had formed in the front of his forehead swung back and forth from the rumbling. “Never seen someone new cause such a scene.”

 “Let’s just say wherever I go a scene seems to follow,” Bruce said cryptically. It was the truth. He could never seem to go anywhere without something happening. He supposed it was one of the things that came with being a Wayne…or maybe something that came with just being himself. Either way, a lot of the time it wasn’t really in his control. Things seemed to just happen - especially when he was there. In his mind, school had actually gone way better than what he had expected, which had him more nervous than it did pleased.

 “Can’t say I know what you mean.” Clark grinned sheepishly. “I don’t really cause much of a commotion.”

 “Really? You mean you’re not the life of the party?” Bruce sounded mock shocked and Clark actually scowled at him while Diana smiled.

 “Have you met anyone else that’s interesting?” Diana inquired. “Other than our little group, that is.” She smiled almost encouragingly at him - most likely for the reason that it wasn’t an unknown fact that Bruce didn’t seem like he liked to talk - or give out any personal information.

Bruce thought that over for a few moments, as he suddenly became aware he was still spooning milkshake into his mouth. He blamed Clark.

 “Not really…I mean, I’ve met people, but I haven’t really gotten close to anyone or anything like that,” he said almost awkwardly. Diana and Clark both nodded in understanding.

 “There are some really great people,” Clark told him. “But…there are also some people that you need to watch out for. But, you’ve already met those people.” Clark smiled almost wryly. “But there really are some amazing people. We have a pretty good school.”

 Bruce wasn’t really much of a social person, if people couldn’t already tell, so he decided to just take Clark’s word for it. It wasn’t that he disliked the school.  Clark, Diana and their group of friends had been…unusually nice to him, which was something he didn’t expect and something he didn’t exactly know how to handle. Bruce really had no idea how, one day, he would be going to go all different parties with people he had to impress. He hoped perhaps he could develop adequate social skills by then, or at least learn a way to adapt to them. He knew business, but he wasn’t what you would define as a businessman. At least, not yet.

 “You should see Bruce during US History class, Clark.” Diana’s voice had a nearly teasing edge to it. “I swear, I’ve never seen someone work up Mr. Franklin quite as badly as Bruce manages to.”

 “What do you do?” Clark questioned. Half of his milkshake had “disappeared."

 “Nothing.” Bruce responded, and Diana shook her head. His fake look of innocence was apparently not the most convincing of his masks.

 “Mr. Franklin always has a bit of a chip on his shoulder, except when it comes to one student, and we all know who that is.” Clark huffed and bit his lip as Diana continued, “Bruce is the one student in the class who doesn’t tolerate getting called out without an adequate reason. Mr. Franklin tried to get him sent to the Principal’s office on Thursday, and for the rest of the class, they were bickering about what exactly Bruce had done wrong. Then yesterday Bruce corrected Mr. Franklin’s lesson and stated that over 30% of it was fabricated and exaggerated.” Clark raised his eyebrows at Bruce who shrugged in response.

 “It was.” He defended. “If you’re going to teach a class, teach it right or don’t bother teaching it at all.”

 “Luthor of course rushed to Mr. Franklin’s defense and asked Bruce if he had any true proof of fabrication,” Diana went on unperturbed. She seemed almost excited to tell the story. “Which of course Bruce did. Which then had Mr. Franklin up in arms.”

 “You actually took the time to prove it?” Clark looked a bit surprised and Bruce raised a single eyebrow at him.

 “Of course I did. It was simple enough to find proof. I bet he got his information off the back of a cereal box.” Bruce rolled his eyes. “Luthor jumping to his defense when even he must have known it was incorrect was ludicrous.”

 “He really doesn’t seem to like you,” Clark stated.

 “Yeah, well he can take a number and move to the back of the line,” Bruce muttered under his breath, and took more of his milkshake out. Both Clark and Diana seemed confused by that remark, and looked at each other in a way that clearly read, ‘what was that supposed to mean?’

 “You said you knew him a little bit before going to school here,” Clark said, crossing his arms on the table, and leaning forward. “Was it always like this?”

 “No,” Bruce answered as bluntly as possible. “I barely knew him. And what I did know about him was that I didn’t like him. We didn’t have too many interactions. We mainly just knew of each other.” He meant to only think the next sentence that escaped from his lips, “But he apparently knew more about me than I thought.” The words were quiet, but both of his two companions picked up on them.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Clark actually looked concerned, but before Bruce had the chance to respond Janet arrived with their food. Bruce was very thankful to see her and quickly took a big bite of his turkey burger. They were right, the food was really good.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

While they ate Bruce had actually managed to change the topic. It first started with him inquiring about Diana’s past in fencing, which she seemed excited to chat about with him. Clark had said he had taken it, but no matter how good you think you are that once you go a few rounds with Diana you lose all confidence. Diana seemed to take an extreme amount of pride in that statement.

 Then, the conversation, somehow, switched to the different languages all of them spoke, which somehow then morphed into a discussion about their favorite Mythological Gods and Goddesses. Bruce had actually found himself being rather interested in the conversations they shared. He even found himself loosening up and letting out a few rare smiles. He even agreed to try a few of Clark’s sweet potato fries.

He actually enjoyed having some other people around to talk to some of the studying he had done on different mythologies and his takes on them. He even enjoyed it when Diana or Clark had a different take on them. It made it almost even more interesting. They all seemed to have varying opinions from time to time, but it didn’t really make it tense; in fact, it almost seemed to drag everyone much deeper into the conversation. Bruce had actually started to lose track of time. There was a bill in front of them, which laid there, completely forgotten, as they just continued to talk. Janet even stopped by a few times just to add in her own commentary to what they were saying.

 Just as Bruce was about to finish up something he was saying, he felt something he was used to only feeling at school. Something he had not yet felt outside of it. At least, not at the intensity he was feeling it at that moment. He felt as though someone was looking right at him. Felt like someone like Luthor was looking right at him. Bruce always had good senses, and he’d gone through training to help improve them. Different people set off different feelings. He was almost certain he’d turn around and see Luthor gazing at him from another table. But as he turned around, he was shocked to find no one there. Most of the older couples that were in had left and he couldn’t see anyone staring at him. Especially not Luthor.

 “Something wrong?” Clark sounded concerned as he himself glanced around the diner. He was trying to find for what Bruce seemed to be searching.

“I just uh…thought I saw someone.” Bruce’s voice sounded distant, and he felt confusion. Even as he looked over his shoulder, seeing no one, he still could not shake the feeling.

 “Who?” Clark inquired, and Bruce shook his head. He suddenly felt uncomfortable and the need to leave the diner. The feeling was still intense and it was making him paranoid.

 “I’ve got to go,” he almost winced at how rushed his voice sounded as he opened the bill and dug through his pocket for his wallet. He thought about it being funny how when you want one thing, everything else seems to suddenly be in the way of it.

 “Is something wrong?” Diana looked concerned and sounded it, as well. Her eyebrows were knit together and she had her hands on the seat, ready to rise.

 “No! Nothing. I just realized how long we’ve been here. I told Alfred I’d only be an hour and it’s been...” He looked at his watch and gulped. “Two hours and thirty minutes.” Poor Alfred.

 Clark and Diana both looked rather surprised by the time. “My Ma and Pa are probably waiting somewhere outside, as well,” Clark winced. “They don’t take this long to shop.” He shot a regretful look Diana’s way.

 Bruce paid for his meal, and he was going to pay for Clark and Diana’s before he got a sharp look from Diana who pulled out her own money. Clark then paid and all three stood up. Bruce still couldn’t shake the feeling of being watched. It wasn’t the type of watchful feeling he usually got. He was used to being watched, being the Wayne heir and all…but this was different.

 “Well, this has been a lot of fun!” Clark said earnestly, and Bruce dragged himself out of his paranoia to give Clark’s remark a nod and a faint smile.

 “It was,” Diana confirmed as the three started to walk together towards the door. All of them waved at Janet who also blew kisses their way from the table at which she was sitting. “We’ll have to do this more often.” 

 Clark and Bruce nodded - Bruce maybe a tad bit slower than Clark. But then Bruce got a big pat on the back from Clark who then said, “I really am glad you could make it Bruce.” He looked so earnest that Bruce had a hard time glaring at him for the unwanted invasion of privacy.

 Bruce nodded. “It was…nice. I’m glad I could make it.” He really was. He had a good time.

“Good! Well, I’ll see you both Monday, and Bruce, be ready to help me with that petition.” Diana winked at him and Bruce nodded at her.

“Of course, see you then!” He agreed.

 The three walked out the door and for a blissful moment Bruce felt the unwanted looking of someone watching him dissipate, and he could focus on searching for Alfred. Clark had run to a pickup truck, apologizing, while Diana had run down the street to go God knows where.

 “Master Bruce,” How on earth does Alfred do that?! He was standing directly behind him. “I assume you had a good time?”

 “It was nice,” Bruce muttered. “Where’s the car?” His eyes scanned his surroundings. He was still alert as ever. Even more so.

 “I found another lovely coffee shop that made delicious pastries and offered a quite lovely cup of tea,” Alfred informed him. “The car is still parked in front of there. After all, I had a whole two and a half hours to myself.” He looked almost smug and Bruce tried not to let a red flush touch his cheeks.

 Alfred started to walk, directing him to where the car was, but as they continued their walk,  Bruce suddenly felt those eyes on him again. He told himself that it was just his imagination, but he really couldn’t shake the feeling of not only the eyes but a sense of something else…a sense of…

Foreboding.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, everyone! Thanks so much for reading! This is my first ever comic fanfiction O_O. Any feedback is not only welcomed but encouraged! I tried to keep them all as in character as possible. Bruce is a VERY hard character to write!


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